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Loe leads Saint Louis past George Mason in OT

Feb 1, 2014 - 10:29 PM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Rob Loe buried a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation and then poured in 10 points in the extra session, as No. 19 Saint Louis secured its best start in school history with an 87-81 triumph over George Mason on Saturday at Chaifetz Arena.

Loe drained a triple from the top of the key with 44.1 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, which the senior from New Zealand opened with a trey from nearly the same spot, giving the Billikens the lead for good.

Bryon Allen made consecutive layups with 2:19 left in the extra session to get George Mason within 75-74, but Loe knocked down another shot from long distance at the other end to put the Billikens up by four.

Allen supplied his team's final 11 points in overtime to keep the Patriots within striking distance, but Saint Louis went 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minute to hang on for the victory.

Loe finished with a career-high 23 points, while Jordair Jett tallied 18 points and five assists for the Billikens (20-2, 7-0 A-10), who have won 14 straight games to match the longest single-season win streak in school history.

Allen led George Mason (7-14, 0-7) with a career-high 30 points to go with seven boards, while Patrick Holloway supplied 15 points off the bench for the Patriots, who have lost eight straight games.

Allen's 3-pointer just over 2 1/2 minutes into the second half gave George Mason a 33-31 lead and sparked an 11-3 burst that Holloway capped with a jumper to give the Patriots a seven-point edge.

Holloway hit a trio of treys over the next few minutes to keep the Billikens at bay, with the final shot from distance giving the Patriots a 54-47 edge with 9:34 on the clock.

Jalen Jenkins' jumper with 4:18 left in regulation provided the Patriots with a 66-61 lead, but George Mason managed just one field goal the rest of the half, coming on Erik Copes' layup with 55 seconds left to make it 68-65.

However, Loe got his triple from the top of the key to fall at the other end before Marquise Moore and Jenkins each missed in close on George Mason's final possession of regulation.

Neither team led by more than four in a back-and-forth first frame that found Saint Louis clinging to a 27-26 advantage at the break.

Game Notes

Saint Louis is off to its first 7-0 start in league play since the 1958-59 squad started 7-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference ... The Billikens also had a 14-game winning streak during the 1993-94 and 1958-59 seasons. Saint Louis won 16 games in a row spanning two seasons in 1947-48 and 1948-49 ... George Mason shot 51.5 percent (35-of-68) from the field ... Copes supplied 10 points and nine boards ... Mike McCall, Jr. had 15 points, Austin McBroom scored 14 and Dwayne Evans added 12 points and 10 boards for Saint Louis ... George Mason outscored Saint Louis 56-34 in the paint.