FAIRFAX, Va. – The diagnosis for the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team heading into its second season of Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play is good. Even though George Mason defeated the Aggies 94-69 Saturday night at EagleBank Arena. 
 
The Aggies have been playing well lately, having won two of their last three coming into Saturday night after starting the season 0-9. A part of their latest run included an 18-point second-half rally against Texas Southern in Las Vegas and a 13-point second-half comeback at Coastal Carolina last Thursday. 
 
But George Mason, who improved to 11-2 on Thursday as it heads into Atlantic 10 play, presented a difficult road challenge for A&T. The Patriots placed four players in double figures, led by Keyshawn Hall, who had 18 points and seven rebounds. George Mason shot 58.6 percent from the floor, and the Patriots were 28-for-36 (.778) from inside 3-point range. 
 
Graduate forward Jeremy Robinson did give the Aggies an 8-4 lead on a turnaround jump shot with 16:43 remaining in the first half. The Patriots scored the next points, capped by a Darius Maddox 3-pointer with 13:43 to play. George Mason took its first double-figure lead on a Baraka Okojie layup, and the Aggies could never get the lead to single digits again. 
 
"When I was in Delaware, we had to come in here and play on a consistent basis, so I know firsthand this is a very difficult place to play," said A&T head coach Monté Ross, referring to when George Mason was a CAA member along with Delaware. "It's not a tough place to play just because it is a tough place. It's a difficult place to play because of their players, and they have had good players here for a while now. 
 
It's no shame in how we played. I thought we kept fighting, and that's going to be what we have to do in conference play, so we're ready to get back to practice on Monday and prepare in earnest for a tough Campbell squad." 
 
Saturday may have seemed like a setback after the Aggies have been ultra-competitive in their previous six games. But with their conference opener scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. against the newest CAA member, Campbell, at Corbett Sports Center, head coach Monté Ross is ready to start a new season. 
 
"Everything we've done thus far has been in preparation for conference play," said Ross. "We put together a hellacious schedule; the only problem with that would be if we were mentally scarred from it. We weren't. To a man, everyone in that locker room said, 'We're ready for conference play.' I'm excited about the chance to start over and continue our trajectory. Tonight was a bump in the road." 
 
The Aggies also placed four players in double figures, led by Landon Glasper's 17. Robinson scored 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting, and junior Kyle Duke and freshman Uchenna Kellman-Nicholes scored 11 points each. Junior Jason Murphy finished with seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.