March 6, 2003
FAIRFAX, VA ... Three George Mason players received All-Colonial Athletic Association accolades at the 2003 CAA men's basketball banquet held Thursday evening in Richmond, VA. Junior guard Mark Davis (Springfield, VA/R.E. Lee/Palm Beach CC) was named to the All-CAA second team, while senior forward Jon Larranaga (Oakton, VA/St. Johns-Prospect Hall) garnered All-Defensive team consideration. Freshman forward Jai Lewis (Aberdeen, MD/Aberdeen/Maine Central Institute) earned a bid to the CAA All-Rookie team.
Davis, a 6-5 wing player who saw action at both the shooting guard and small forward positions for the Patriots this season, has led the team in scoring all season long, averaging 15.9 points per game. He opened the year with back-to-back 20-point plus outings on the road, and has scored 20 or more points seven times. A junior college transfer in his first year with the Green and Gold, Davis is one of two Patriots to have started all 27 games this season and has scored in double figures 25 times. He adds 3.9 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists per contest, while leading the team in steals at 2.0 per game and made three-pointer with 50. Davis twice scored career-highs of 26 points and notched his first career double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) in Mason's 77-67 victory versus Delaware, Jan. 2. He was selected the Pioneer CAA men's basketball Player of the Week on Feb. 3. Davis concluded the regular season listed in the top 15 of four CAA statistical categories, including scoring, steals, 3-point field goal percentage and made three-pointers.
Larranaga, a 2003-03 team captain, has been Mason's leader on and off the floor all season. A repeat selection to the CAA All-Defensive team, he has also started all 27 games this year, playing every position from point guard to power forward. A 6-7, 230 pound player who sees the court rather well, Larranaga concluded the CAA regular season ranked second on the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game, third in rebounding (4.7 rpg), first in assists at 3.9 per game (career-best 11 versus Niagara on Dec. 7, 2002), third in steals (1.3 spg), and first in free throw percentage (.807). He totaled 20 more points three times this year, including a career-high 29 points at East Carolina, Dec. 19, 2002, and has scored in double figures 21 times. He ranked in the CAA top 20 in six statistical categories at the end of the regular season. A red-shirt senior, Larranaga needs 30 points to reach 1,000 for this career and is one rebound shy of becoming only the third Mason men's basketball player to reach at 800 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals for his career.
Lewis has started nine of 27 games played in his first season as a Patriot. An imposing figure at 6-7, 275 pounds, he averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds for Mason, concluding the regular season second on the team in rebounding average and first in field goal percentage at 52.5 percent. Lewis has scored in double figures seven times this year, including a career-best 17 points versus Hartford, Dec. 23, 2002, and twice in rebounding, earning his first collegiate double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds at James Madison on Jan. 18. Lewis earned Pioneer CAA Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 30, 2002. He concluded the regular season ranked 13th in the CAA in rebounding.
George Mason enters the 2003 Pioneer CAA Men's Basketball Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face fifth-seeded Delaware, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Richmond Coliseum. The Patriots (16-11, 11-7 CAA), winners of the 1999 and 2001 CAA tournament crowns, have won two straight and eight of their last 11 contests this season.
