FAIRFAX, Va. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team scored nine of the final 12 points at George Mason on Tuesday night, turning a 68-63 deficit into a stunning, 72-71 victory over the host Patriots at EagleBank Arena.
 
In the earliest game in program history by calendar date, the Quakers won their opener for the third time in head coach Steve Donahue's four years. It also was Penn's first win in four tries against George Mason.
 
Notes
*Penn won despite shooting just 6-of-18 at the foul line (33.3 percent).
 
*Penn shot 61.8 percent on two-point field goals on Tuesday night (21 of 34).
 
*Junior AJ Brodeur led all players in both points (19) and rebounds (10) on Tuesday, his 10th career double-double and his 44th double-figure scoring game.
 
*Penn is now 9-1 when Brodeur has a double-double.
 
*Senior Antonio Woods was hampered by foul trouble but scored all of his 10 points in the game's final 5:22. He had 10 of Penn's last 13 points.
 
*Woods now has 31 career double-figure scoring games.
 
*In his first college game, freshman Michael Wang hit three-pointers on his first two touches on offense and finished with 14 points.
 
*Junior Devon Goodman made his first start since freshman year and finished with nine points and three assists.
 
*Senior Tyler Hamilton provided a nice spark off the bench, playing 19 minutes and contributing six points, three rebounds and two assists.
                                                                                                                
How It Happened
As opening nights go, Tuesday's opener was certainly one to remember.
 
Ryan Betley, Penn's leading scorer a year ago, hit a three-pointer on the Quakers' first possession of 2018-19. Mere minutes later, however, he was crumpled on the ground. Next time anyone saw him, his right knee was in a brace and he was on crutches. Not a good prognosis.
 
Late in the first half, the referees called a double foul and a double technical on the same play. Because of that, Antonio Woods went from two fouls to four. He didn't come back in until the eight-minute timeout of the second half. He would have his say then.
 
In the second half, a fan seated several rows up behind the scorer's table needed medical attention. It wasn't until after the game that Penn's coaches and players found out the unnamed fan had passed away on the way to the hospital.
 
No wonder, then, that midway through the second half a basketball staff member came to the table and said, "I know it's opening night, but this feels like Game 20."
 
It certainly did. There would be no easing into this season for Penn. In front of a large crowd, George Mason's famed "Green Machine" band, and a boisterous student section the Quakers somehow overcame the loss of one starter to injury and another to foul trouble to earn one of the grittiest wins in recent memory.
 
Betley's injury came less than five minutes into the game with Penn up, 9-8. Freshman Bryce Washington replaced Betley on the floor, followed shortly by Wang who quickly scored six points to help Penn out to an 18-13 lead. It was still 24-20 when Mason went on a 7-0 run, only for Wang to drain another trey to knot things up at 27-27.
 
Mason scored the next four points, but back-to-back threes by Wang and Eddie Scott tied the game at 33-33. However, Mason scored the final four points of the half, the last two on a Penn turnover that led to a breakout layup right at the buzzer for a 37-33 lead.
 
Mason held that lead nearly the entire second half, expanding it to nine on three separate occasions. Down 54-45, Brodeur scored on back-to-back layups and then Hamilton flushed home a backdoor feed from Max Rothschild to get Penn within three points. GMU's lead never was bigger than five after that, the last of those coming at 68-63 with 4:14 to play.
 
Woods made it 68-65 with a jumper, and then after a few empty possessions by both sides he got to the rim again to make it 68-67 with 3:07 left. Penn then forced a Mason turnover, and Brodeur used a nice feed from Goodman to slide down the baseline and lay it in for the Quakers' first lead since 24-22.
 
Otis Livingston II (15 points) hit a jumper at the elbow to put Mason back in front, 70-69, with 1:49 to play. Penn set up a play for Wang, whose right-corner three was off the mark. Hamilton fouled Mason's Javon Greene on the rebound, and Greene hit one of two foul shots for a 71-69 Patriots lead.
 
Woods tied things up with a nice baseline drive as the game neared the one-minute mark, and then Greene missed a layup at the other end that Hamilton rebounded. Brodeur was fouled with 20 seconds left, and he hit the first of two foul shots to make it 72-71.
 
Penn could have put it away, but the foul shooting was a struggle all night and never more so than in the final seconds. Brodeur missed the second shot, but Mason was unable to capitalize. Brodeur rebounded the Patriots miss and was immediately fouled. He missed both shots, but Max Rothschild was able to punch the rebound out to Goodman and he got the ball to Woods who was fouled. Woods also missed both, giving Mason one final chance to win. However, Livingston's last-second shot was off the mark and only then could Penn breathe easy.
 
Up Next
Penn will play its home opener on Friday, hosting Rice at 8 p.m. Prior to the opening tip, the Quakers will unveil the newest banner in the Palestra rafters to signify their 2017-18 Ivy League championship.