Smith's 23 lead Liberty over George Mason in NIT 77-71

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FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Josh Smith had 23 points and nine rebounds, Brett Decker Jr. added 17 points, and Liberty beat George Mason 77-71 on Tuesday in the opening game of the NIT.

Zander Carter shot 5 of 6 from the field to finish with 10 points, while adding six rebounds for the Flames (26-7).

Jahari Long led the Patriots (23-10) in scoring, finishing with 27 points and four assists. Kory Mincy added 16 points, nine rebounds and two steals for George Mason. Emmanuel Kanga finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Liberty went into halftime leading George Mason 34-24. Decker scored nine points in the half. Smith scored 19 points in the second half.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.