Dec 23, 2003

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - Sophomore Jai Lewis (Aberdeen, MD/Maine Central Institute), junior Terry Reynolds (Nashville, TN/Toledo) and senior Raoul Heinen (Bunschoten, Holland) led a balanced scoring attack and George Mason beat St. Bonaventure 69-55 Tuesday night at Patriot Center in front of 3,010 fans.

George Mason improves to 7-2 on the season, marking its best non-conference start as a member of the CAA and best since the 1983-84 campaign, when the Patriots opened the season at 9-1 before playing their first conference game as a member of the ECAC South that year.

Lewis scored 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and had nine rebounds. Reynolds, who shot 0-for-8 from the field, scored his 13 points at the free-throw line, where he was 13-for-14. He hit five free throws in the final three minutes to help the Patriots pull away.

Heinen finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Richard Tynes added a game and career-high 10 rebounds to go with six points.

Marques Green and Patrick Lottin each scored 16 points to lead the Bonnies (4-5), who also got 11 points from Maurice Young. SBU remains winless away from home this season at 0-4.

Mason began the game on tear, both offensively and defensively, holding SBU to two field goals in the first 10 minutes en route to a 17-5 margin. A 3-point basket from Heinen with 1:50 left in the frame put the Patriots ahead 28-18 at the break.

The Patriots pulled ahead early in the second half when freshman Gabe Norwood (State College, PA/State College) and Heinen hit consecutive three pointers to give George Mason a 43-26 lead with 13:46 remaining. But the Bonnies bounced back with a 19-6 run, which included six straight points from Young and two 3-pointers from Green, to pull within four at 49-45 with 7:18 left. The margin would hit four again, 53-49 with 5:49 remaining, but Reynolds, Tynes and Skinn combined to make 12-of-13 free three throws in the final three minutes to seal the win.

The Patriots played without leading scorer Mark Davis (Sr., Springfield, VA/R.E. Lee/Palm Beach CC), who missed the game with a sprained left ankle, and sophomore Lamar Butler (Oxon Hill, MD/Oxon Hill), who missed his third consecutive game with an injured foot.

The Patriots outrebounded St. Bonaventure 51-29 and shot 74.2 percent (23-of-31) for the game from the free throw line compared to 46.2 percent (6-of-13) for the Bonnies. Mason was 23-of-28 from the line in the second period.

The game was a reunion for George Mason coach Jim Larranaga and St. Bonaventure coach Anthony Solomon, who played under Larranaga at Virginia when he was an assistant. Solomon then assisted Larranaga at Bowling Green.

George Mason takes a 10-day break and returns Saturday, Jan. 3, at Patriot Center to open up its conference schedule against Towson at 7 p.m.

Box Score
St. Bonaventure (4-5) - 18-37=55
George Mason (7-2) - 28-41=69