The UMass men’s basketball team added another chapter to its magical season Wednesday night.
The Minutemen, who entered the matchup with Atlantic 10 foe George Mason ranked No. 16 in the nation, found themselves trailing by four points with 26 seconds to play. Stud senior guard Chaz Williams hit one of two free throws to cut the deficit to three, and Williams followed up an ensuing turnover with a layup to bring the score to 87-86 with 11 seconds on the clock.
All George Mason needed to do was keep possession and sink its free throws, but as UMass attempted to foul, Williams — who finished with 26 points, eight assists and five steals — poked the ball loose. His layup was no good, but sophomore Derrick Gordon gathered the rebound and put it through to give the Minutemen the lead.
The Patriots had one final chance with no timeouts remaining, but UMass forced yet another turnover to clinch an 88-87 win.
The victory improved UMass’ record to 15-1 on the season, but this year has been far from a cakewalk. Just six of those 15 wins have come by 10 points or more.
Check out the frantic finish to the Minutemen’s most recent win in the video below.
