St. Bonaventure’s Dominick Welch puts up a shot during Wednesday’s game against George Mason. Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Athletics Department

FAIRFAX, Va. — Surging George Mason used sprints at the outset of each half to establish control and hold off St. Bonaventure, 75-66, Wednesday night at EagleBank Arena.

Kyle Lofton and Jalen Adaway each had 15 points to lead the scoring for the Bonnies, with Lofton adding four assists and four steals.

Less than five minutes into the second half, the Patriots owned an 18-point advantage, but the Bonnies would chip away from that point.

St. Bonaventure (11-5, 3-2 A-10) got within 61-57 with 5:28 remaining, but two possessions stalled as the Bonnies had the chance to close within a bucket. Then, back-to-back shots from the wing, first from DeVon Cooper and then by Xavier Johnson, put the Bona rally attempt on ice.

George Mason (10-7, 3-1) seemed little worse for wear despite playing its third game in five days including a Saturday win over Dayton, opening up by scoring the game’s first nine points as part of a 14-3 sprint over the first five minutes.

Welch kept the Bonnies in the game by shaking his recent cold spell.

The senior guard scored 12 of Bona’s first 19 points, going 5-for-8 overall from the floor and 4-for-7 from deep while helping the visitors chip away to a 33-29 deficit at the break.

A dunk from Jalen Adaway out of the locker room on the first possession of the second half brought the Bonnies within a bucket, but the Patriots would soon turn the tide again.

Mason quickly ignited a 15-0 run spanning just 3:04 of game time to race out to a 48-31 advantage with 16:47 remaining.

From there the Bonnies would be left trying to dig out of that hole, closing within single digits again on a corner trey from Lofton with 10 minutes left.

D’Shawn Schwartz led all scorers for George Mason with 20 points, one of four Patriots in double figures.

GAME NOTES

Welch finished with 14 points and Jaren Holmes also posted 14. …St. Bonaventure shot 39 percent from the floor while George Mason finished at a 52 percent clip, also owning a 32-29 edge on the boards. …Kyle Lofton moved into the program’s top-20 in career scoring, breaking a tie with Glenn Hagan, ’78. …Jaren Holmes paced Bona’s with five assists. …Wednesday’s win snapped a five-game winning streak for the Bonnies over George Mason and was their first setback vs. the Patriots in Fairfax since 2019.