GAME NOTES: The George Mason Patriots will conclude a season-opening two-game homestand at the Patriot Center on Sunday afternoon, as they take on the Princeton Tigers.

Princeton played its season opener at home against local rival Rider and came away with a 64-58 victory. The Tigers have now won six of their last seven November games.

George Mason also tipped off its season on Friday night against another Ivy League team but fell on the wrong end of a 68-60 decision against Cornell. The home struggles are nothing new for the Patriots, as they went only 6-8 at the Patriot Center last season.

The teams met for the first time last November, with Princeton coming out on top at home, 71-66.

The Tigers appeared in trouble early in the second half against Rider trailing by nine points, but they pieced together a 21-8 run over nearly 10 minutes of action to take control of the game. Princeton had a modest night shooting from the field (.442), which included a 9-of-24 showing from 3-point range, but the difference was made at the free-throw line, where it outscored Rider, 17-2. Spencer Weisz was the catalyst with 18 points in 39 minutes. Hans Brase netted 12 points and stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere with four 3-pointers, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Ben Hazel (nine points, seven rebounds, three steals) was also impressive in the winning effort.

Although the Patriots held a three-point lead late in the first half against Cornell, they gave up five unanswered points to go into intermission trailing, and they never regained the advantage in the second stanza. They had a difficult night shooting, both from the floor (.309) and the foul line (.524), and they only kept the game competitive by winning the turnover battle by a convincing 16-5 advantage. Patrick Holloway did what he could to keep his team alive, finishing with 22 points on 4-of-11 from 3-point range. Jalen Jenkins tallied 10 points and three steals, and while Shevon Thompson (three points) shot just 1-of-6 from the field, he helped make up for it with 10 rebounds.

Princeton has a solid squad but have the disadvantage of traveling on short rest. Expect George Mason to play much better in front of its home crowd this time around and improve to .500.