The game featured only the second meeting between the schools in 30 seasons and saw 10 lead changes and 12 ties before Hancock's basket turned the tide in favor of the Patriots (6-5), who jumped above the .500 mark on the season. VMI fell to 4-6 on the year, but saw several encouraging performances in the road setback.

Sophomore guard Keith Gabriel broke out of a three-game shooting slump and led VMI in scoring with 24 points including six 3-point goals. Junior guard Austin Kenon continued his steady scoring and added 22 points and six assists while freshman forward Stan Okoye matched his career-high with 18 points.

Mason got a team-high 24 points from freshman guard Sherrod Wright while sophomore forward Ryan Pearson added 16 points.

VMI rallied from a double-digit first half deficit and took its first lead of the second half when Gabriel fired a 3-pointer with 14:48 left to push the Keydets to a 59-56 lead. A 7-2 spurt later in the second half capped by Hunter Houston's jumper  gave VMI its largest lead of the night, 72-67. Houston added another jumper to maintain the five point Keydet spread, 76-71 at the 8:26 mark

But the Patriots rallied behind freshman guard Rashad Whack, who was inserted into the game midway in the second half. Whack finished with 9 second half points and canned a pair of 3-pointers to key a 7-0 run to put the Patriots back on top, 78-76 with 6:39 left. 

VMI stayed close, trailing by no more than four points for the rest of regulation despite Mason's ability to convert key shots including a banked 3-pointer by Ryan Pearson as the shot clocked expired at the 4:24 mark.

A pair of free throws by Gabriel with 2:09 left inched VMI within 85-84, and Okoye followed with a slam dunk on a perfect inbounds feed from Ron Burks to give the Keydets an 86-85 lead with 1:11 left. After a 30-second timeout, Mason worked the ball to Whack, who misfired from long range only to see Hancock secure the rebound and score the decisive basket on the second chance opportunity.

Following a 30-second timeout in which VMI inserted all of its key shooters, the Keydets maneuvered for a wide open look for Kenon from the right wing, but the Virginia Beach, Va. native could not drain the 3-point attempt from 24 feet and the long carom was scooped up by Mason's Isaiah Tate who hastily threw ahead to a racing Long for a driving layup with :09 left.

Sophomore guard Ron Burks tried to send the game into overtime with two 3-point tries in the final three seconds of regulation, but Hancock blocked the first try forcing a desperation heave that fell short as time expired.

VMI led 32-30 in the first half after Kenon's layup at the eight-minute mark, but the Patriots reeled off nine unanswered points with Sherrod contributing five points on the run. George Mason assumed its largest lead of the game (50-39) on a Wright layup three minutes before halftime, but the Keydets refused to buckle and rallied thanks in part behind 20 GMU turnovers forced that were converted into a 25-13 points-off-turnover advantage on the night.

George Mason won its second straight nailbiter at home. The Patriots trailed Creighton 72-70 in the final minute of regulation only to win, 75-72, on December 12.  

VMI will break for the holidays and resumes Big South Conference action on January 2, 2010 when it faces Liberty at Cameron Hall. Tipoff will be 1:00 p.m.

QUOTES - VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom

"We missed two layups and two front ends of one-and-ones in the second half, but I love those guys. They competed and played through it. We had every shot there at the end. We ran a great inbounds play and took the lead and then gave up an offensive rebound when our size came back to haunt us and Hancock stuck it back in. But I applaud our guys. They played their guts out, and I'm really proud of them. 

"The difference in the game turns out to be the kid (Pearson) who banks in a three from 25 feet. You can't do much about that."

"We got the shot we wanted Austin (Kenon) at the end. He got wide-open look. I'll take Austin taking that wide-open three any time. It just didn't go in. It took a crazy bounce and we didn't get a chance to foul."