FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Jonathan Arledge scored a career-high 23 points to lead George Mason past Western Michigan 62-52 on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
The Patriots (21-14) will face the winner of the other semifinal played later Wednesday between Wright State and Santa Clara in a best-of-three championship series beginning on Monday.
David Brown had 13 points and Shayne Whittington added 12 for Western Michigan (22-13), which committed 23 turnovers and shot just 35 percent from the field.
George Mason used an 18-0 run to take a 26-17 lead with 3:37 remaining in the first half. The Broncos went 9:01 without scoring, missing all seven field-goal attempts and committing eight turnovers during the stretch.
However, the Broncos pulled to 47-40 on a dunk by Whittington with 5:27 remaining. The Patriots scored the next seven points to increase the lead to 14 with about 4 minutes to go.
