Ryan Pearson scored 29 points and made a key block late to help George Mason to an 89-79 victory over James Madison on Saturday.
Vertrail Vaughns and Bryon Allen each added 14 points for the Patriots (18-5, 10-1 Colonial Athletic Association), who stretched their win streak to six and pushed their home record to 11-1.
Humpty Hitchens tied a career high with 27 points as one of four players for the Dukes (10-12, 3-8) to score in double figures. He added seven assists before fouling out with 12 seconds to play.
Andrey Semenov scored 15 points, A.J. Davis added 13 and James Madison failed to win consecutive games for the first time in this year and lost its seventh straight in the teams' series.
Down by as many as 12 early in the second half, the Dukes assembled a 7-0 spurt capped by Semenov's putback to close it 69-66.
They later got within 74-72 on Davis' two free throws, and still trailed just 79-75 after Davis' 3-pointer with 1:54 left.
But after Allen's leaning jumper on the next possession, Pearson blocked Davis' 3-point attempt on the right wing, and Andre Cornelius stole Davis' outlet pass just a few seconds later to prevent a layup.
The Patriots, who shot just 63 percent from the foul line (17-for-27), made eight of their final 10 foul shots to seal the contest.
With the victory, George Mason scored 89 points against James Madison for the second time this season after an 89-83 win in Harrisonburg, Va., on Jan. 14.
The Patriots also maintained sole possession of first place in the CAA behind Pearson's performance, which marked the most points the senior has scored in a conference game in his career.
George Mason led by only 43-41 at halftime, despite James Madison losing A.J. Davis and Gene Swindel with three personal fouls each by the third media timeout of the half.
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