FAIRFAX, Va. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team couldn't keep the momentum from Friday's win over Rider going Sunday, falling to George Mason 85-53 at the Patriots' Eaglebank Arena.
 
Penn fell to 4-8 heading into the Christmas break, while Mason improved to 8-4.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn knocked down 10 three-pointers on Sunday, hitting double figures in that category for the second straight game and third time this season. The Quakers had more threes (10) than twos (9).
 
*Junior Ethan Roberts posted his third double-double of the season as he finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds, tying for game-high honors in the latter category.
 
*Roberts also led the Red and Blue in assists (5) and steals (2) on Sunday.
 
*Junior Michael Zanoni led Penn with 11 points, knocking down a trio of three-pointers along the way.
 
*Sophomore Niklas Polonowski was the Quakers' other double-digit scorer on Sunday, with 10 points, giving him 24 in the last two games after he totaled seven in Penn's first ten contests.
 
*Senior Nick Spinoso was saddled with foul trouble all day and fouled out midway through the second half after he had recorded eight points, six rebounds and two assists.
 
*Mason got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Jalen Haynes and had four other players reach double figures in the scoring column: Giovanni Emejuru (12), Jared Billups (11), Darius Maddox (10) and Justin Begg (10). Maddox also led the Patriots with six assists.
 
How It Happened
Mason led by five early, at 14-9, but Penn used the long ball (six treys) to climb back into it. When George Smith nailed a transition three-pointer with 6:49 left this game was tied at 23-23. Unfortunately the Quakers only scored once more before halftime—Polonowski going backdoor to convert a feed from Spinoso—and the host Patriots took advantage. Particularly damaging was a pair of triples, on back-to-back possessions, that turned this from a two-point game to an eight-point margin in a matter of 33 seconds. GMU's lead was ten at halftime, 35-25.
 
Any thoughts Penn had of getting back into this were quickly quashed, as Mason scored five of the first six points and 11 of the first 14. That had the Patriots up 46-28, and it was still 48-31 at the first media timeout of the period.
 
The lead bulged past 20 points for the first time at 52-31 with just under 13 minutes left, and the closest the Quakers got the rest of the way was 18, at 64-46, when the game hit the under-8 media timeout. Out of that stoppage, Mason scored six in a row and held the Red and Blue to just one bucket over a five-minute span to eliminate any potential drama.
 
Up Next
Penn will break for Christmas and re-convene ahead of its next game, which takes place next Sunday at Penn State. The Quakers and Nittany Lions will tip off at 1 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.