Box Score
Post-game comments (Bill Coen, Kashief Edwards and Jonathan Lee - YouTube.com)

BOSTON, Mass., Feb. 22, 2012 -- Behind career-high scoring performances from Jonathan Lee and senior Kashief Edwards, the Northeastern men's basketball team upset CAA co-leader George Mason in dramatic fashion, besting the Patriots, 85-82, in overtime on senior night at Matthews Arena. Lee led all scorers with 27 points, while Edwards made the most of his final home game with 22 points to carry the Huskies to a thrilling conference victory. Having erased a 10-point second-half deficit to come away with the win, Northeastern improves to 9-8 in CAA play and 13-15 overall with one game remaining in the regular season.

In addition to his all-time high point total, Lee connected on a career-best 18-of-20 free throw attempts and added six assists for the Huskies. His 18 made free throws tie the Northeastern single-game record. The lone senior on the roster, Edwards doubled his previous career high in his final game at historic Matthews Arena, while Joel Smith added 19 points on five 3-pointers. Mike Morrison led five Patriots (23-7, 14-3) in double-figures with 19 points and six rebounds in the losing effort. Northeastern held All-CAA selection and Mason leading scorer Ryan Pearson nearly seven points below his season average.

With the score 38-31 at halftime, Vertrail Vaughns drained a 3-pointer to give George Mason its largest lead of the game at 10 points with 19:09 to play, but that was as much distance as Northeastern would allow. Down seven at 50-43 with 15:14 remaining, the Huskies mounted a comeback effort behind a strong defensive performance. After slowly chipping away at the lead over the next five minutes, a 3-point play by Edwards at the 9:59 mark brought the crowd to its feet and gave the Huskies their first lead of the game at 55-53, capping a 12-3 run.

Both sides traded leads over the next five minutes with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until a pair of Edwards free throws gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game at four, 67-63, with 4:34 to go. George Mason responded, however, retaking the lead on a Paris Bennett bucket to grab a 73-71 advantage with 2:27 left. After two Lee free throws squared the game at 73-73, Bryon Allen buried a jumper to break the deadlock in favor of GMU.

Down 75-73, Lee found an open Edwards, and the Philadelphia, Pa., native slammed home a game-tying bucket to knot the contest with 29 seconds left on the clock. A Kauri Black steal with two seconds left on the ensuing Patriots possession preserved the tie and sent the game into overtime with the score 75-75.

Northeastern opened the overtime scoring with a lay-in from Lee. A free throw by Lee on the Huskies' next possession gave the home team a 78-75 lead just 1:19 into the extra period. Mason answered with a 5-0 run take an 80-78 lead, but Smith sent the crowd into a frenzy by nailing a 3-pointer with 1:59 left to put the home side back in front, 81-80. With the score unchanged and 32.4 seconds showing on the clock, GMU had possession of the ball but Edwards forced a Patriots turnover with 14 second left and teammate Smith was sent to the free-throw line after collecting the deflection.

After Smith knocked down both chances from the line, Allen responded immediately for the Patriots, charging down the court for a layup to cut the deficit back to one, 83-82, with seven seconds to play. Lee was then fouled and proceeded to make both of his attempts to put the home side back ahead by three, 85-82. In search of a game tying basket, Ryan Pearson's desperation 3-pointer bounced harmlessly off the rim as the buzzer sounded to give Northeastern the upset home win on senior night.

Free throws played a critical role in the comeback win for the Huskies, as Northeastern converted a season best 31-of-35 attempts (88.6 percent) from the line. The Patriots were 14-of-20 (70.0 percent) from the charity stripe.

Both teams tallied 28 rebounds for the night and posted nearly identical shooting percentages, with Northeastern going 24-of-46 (52.2 percent) and George Mason 30-of-57 (52.6 percent).

Edwards fittingly opened the first half scoring for the Huskies after a pre-game ceremony to honor him as the lone NU senior, but the home side fell behind 10-4 after the first four minutes of action. George Mason increased its lead to seven at 22-15 midway through the half but the Huskies responded by scoring the next seven points to tie the game for the first time with 6:50 left in the half. A Patriots trey by Vaughn Gray quickly broke the tie however and gave the visitors back a lead that they would extend to seven points, 38-31, by halftime.

Edwards finished the half a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and tallied nine points over the opening 20 minutes. Smith paced the Huskies with 11 points, while Morrison led the way for GMU with 10 of his own to that point.

Northeastern will wrap up its regular season slate this Saturday when the Huskies travel to Delaware to take on the Blue Hens at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Comcast Network and Comcast SportsNet New England. The Huskies defeated the Blue Hens in a thrilling 62-61 affair earlier this season at Matthews Arena. Joel Smith knocked down the game-winning jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining to lift Northeastern to the win.

A full replay of this game can be viewed on ESPN3 at WatchESPN.com.

GAME NOTES
> Playing in the final home game of his Northeastern career, senior Kashief Edwards doubled his previous career high by scoring 22 points in 36 minutes of action
> Jonathan Lee scored a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers
> Lee went 18-of-20 at the free throw line; the 18 makes tied the Northeastern single-game record
> Lee has scored in double-figures in 36 of the last 40 games
> Joel Smith made five 3-pointers and now has 154 for his career to rank sixth all-time in Northeastern history
> Smith has made multiple threes in 18 games this season and at least one 3-pointer in 47 of the last 50 games
> Smith is averaging 19.7 points per game over the last three games
> Northeastern scored a season-high 85 points
> Northeastern improved to 2-0 in overtime games on the year
> For the first time this season, Northeastern won after trailing at the half