Feb. 5, 2003

Box Score

NEWARK, DE - George Mason placed four scorers in double figures led by Jessie Young's 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and the Patriots held off every Delaware run in the second half as the Blue Hens dropped a 71-63 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball game Wednesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

George Mason (12-8, 7-4 CAA), which swept the season series over Delaware, won its fourth straight game as Young led four scorers in double figures. Mark Davis contributed 15 points, Jon Larranaga added 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists, and Raoul Heinen added 13 points. Young recorded his 13th career double-double and his third of the season.

The Patriots held Delaware to just 33 percent shooting from the field (21 of 62) and posted a 43-30 advantage on the boards. GMU held a 41-20 rebounding advantage in its 77-67 win over the Blue Hens Jan. 2 in Fairfax, VA.

Delaware (11-9, 6-5 CAA), which was coming off its hottest shooting game of the year when it hit 16 three-pointers in a 91-57 win over William & Mary Feb. 1, cooled down considerably as the Hens missed on their first nine shots from the field and dug themselves into an 11-2 hole six minutes into the contest. Delaware lost for the fourth time in its last six games despite 16 points from Mike Ames, 15 points and seven assists from Mike Slattery, and 14 more off the bench from Ryan Iversen.

The Hens did not hit their first field goal until the 13:52 mark of the first half when Iversen converted a layup. The Hens did manage to cut the GMU lead to 11-7, but George Mason answered with 15-3 run capped by a Davis dunk with 6:54 left in the first half and went back up 26-10 on their way to a 34-25 lead at intermission. George Mason shot 52 percent from the field (13 of 25) to jump out to the big halftime lead.

Delaware made several impressive runs in the second half, but could never get over the top. After pulling to within four points at 39-35 six minutes into the second half, the Patriots responded with another 15-3 run and were back up again by 16 at 54-38 with 8:39 remaining.

When the Hens got the lead back to five points at 58-53 with 4:49 left, the Patriots fought back with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 11 at 64-53 with 3:18 left. The Hens made one last run, cutting the lead back to four at 67-63 on an Ames jumper with 1:10 remaining, but Davis hit on four straight free throws in the final 46 seconds to ice the game. The Hens never could climb back as they missed all five three-point attempts in the final minute.