FAIRFAX, Va. – The final score never lies, but it rarely tells the full story.
 
In its first road game of the season, Longwood stumbled out of the gate and spent the rest of the game trying to climb out of a 15-0 hole – and the Lancers nearly did.
 
However, despite a mid-game surge that saw Longwood (1-1) trim a 15-point deficit to just two with less than eight minutes to play, George Mason (2-0) managed to ride that early cushion and 19 points from sophomore guard Jamal Hartwell to hold off the comeback charge and pull out a 76-65 win Friday night at EagleBank Arena.
 
That game-opening 15-0 run proved to be the difference, as the Patriots – now 2-0 and coming off a 68-55 overtime win against Navy this past Tuesday – had their double-digit lead cut to 48-46 but survived a series of Longwood runs that begin midway through the first half.
 
"They punched us in the mouth; in my words, I'd say they punked us," said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. "On the offensive end, we played extremely timidly in the first half. We'd catch the ball and not even look at the rim. It was like we were just trying to move the ball.
 
"We said hey guys, you have to be aggressive. If we lose, that's fine but we're going to lose being aggressive. I think the guys realized we played very poorly and not our style in the first half, and we were only down 11. From their perspective, I think they felt like hey, we can compete with these guys."
 
That opening run featured seven points from Hartwell and an 0-for-10 drought for the Lancers that prompted Aldrich to burn his first timeout. His message to the team was to increase their level of defensive effort and trust that the open shots they created would eventually fall, and the Lancers responded with a 22-18 run to the end of the half.
 
"You saw the ball start moving, we were attacking, we were getting into the paint at will," Aldrich said. "I thought we got a lot of really good shots. We only had eight turnovers for the game, and there were some really positive things to take away from this game.
 
"The big negative is you have to believe from the tip. I think we were timid, and I thought probably for about the first 12-14 minutes there were some guys on our team who weren't sure we should be in the gym with these guys. That was really disappointing. I think we saw that a little bit with the DePaul game last year – there's some timidity at first, and then there's a realization of hey, we're pretty good, keep going."
 
Once the Lancers found their footing, the shots began to fall and the George Mason lead began to sink. Longwood hit 5-of-6 three-pointers during a 17-10 run in the second half, three of which came from sophomore guard DeShaun Wade and another from Jaylon Wilson. That dagger from Wilson came with 11:36 to play and cut George Mason's lead to 48-46.
 
However, George Mason stood its ground, recovered and fought back to win the remainder of the game 28-19 behind nine points from Javon Greene in the final 11:36.
 
"We told the guys that the non-conference is to learn about who we are, where we need to improve and opportunities for us to grow," Aldrich said. SDo I want to win every game? Yes, I do. But I want to win games in March much more than I want to win games in November. The reality is this was a great teaching tool."
 
Both Greene and Hartwell scored in double figures with a combined 37 points, while Greene added three assists and a team-high six rebounds. Their combined 12-of-22 shooting performance from the field helped George Mason shoot .547 (29-of-53) from the floor as a team.
 
For Longwood, Jaylon Wilson finished with 10 points, joining the newcomers Wade – 13 points – and Christian Wilson – 11 points – in double-digit scoring. Wade's 13 points included three three-pointers, all in the second half.
 
"We told the guys where we will really lose this game is if we don't learn from what this revealed to us," Aldrich said. "Again, am I happy we lost the game? No, but they're teaching tools. If we can learn from these mistakes, then it's well worth it."
 
Longwood will now return to Willett Hall for a three-game homestand against Maryland Eastern Shore, Saint Francis (Brooklyn) and Randolph. All three of those games will take place next week during a stretch of five consecutive home games alongside Longwood's women's team in Willett Hall running Tuesday through Saturday.  
 
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