DAYTON, Ohio -- — Ronald Polite scored 22 points and De'Von Cooper sealed the victory with a layup with 44 seconds left as George Mason knocked off Dayton 74-69 on Saturday night.

Polite also contributed six assists for the Patriots (17-12, 9-7 Atlantic 10 Conference). Cooper added 16 points while going 5 of 8 from the floor, including 4 for 5 from distance, and 2 for 3 from the line, and he also had five rebounds. Josh Oduro finished 6 of 10 from the field to finish with 12 points.

Daron Holmes led the way for the Flyers (19-10, 11-5) with 34 points and six rebounds. Toumani Camara added nine points and six rebounds for Dayton.

Polite scored eight points in the first half for George Mason, who led 33-28 at the break. Polite scored 14 points in the second half for George Mason.

The Flyers' loss allowed Fordham and Saint Louis to catch them and create a three-way tie for second place with two games remaining.

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