Jan. 28, 2004

Box Score

NEWARK, DE - Senior guard Mike Ames scored nine of his team-high 22 points in the first four minutes of the second half as the University of Delaware took control early in the second stanza and led the rest of the way for a 74-65 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball victory Wednesday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Ames, who notched his sixth 20-point effort of the season and the 15th of his career, also knocked down four of his five shots from beyond the three-point arc, as the Blue Hens (11-7, 5-4 CAA) remained a perfect 5-0 in home league games this season. The Hens shot 51 percent from the field (28 of 55) and matched a season-low with just 10 turnovers. Ames' 207 career three-pointers is now just four shy of the UD record.

Mike Slattery, Herb Courtney, and Lebo Maepa each added nine points for the Blue Hens with Slattery dishing out eight assists and Maepa coming off the bench to pull a team-high six rebounds.

George Mason (12-6, 5-4 CAA), the pre-season CAA favorite, lost its second straight game despite a big effort from forward Jai Lewis, who hit on 10 of 12 shots from the field to finish with a career-high 26 points to go with nine rebounds in just 27 minutes.

Lamar Butler came off the bench to add 12 points, Trent Wurtz added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench, Mark Davis chipped in with 10 points, and Terry Reynolds dished out 11 assists. The Patriots controlled the boards by a 40-29 margin but were hurt by 22 turnovers, including seven in a two-minute stretch early in the second stanza when Delaware took control.

Delaware led most of the first half until the Patriots converted a five-point play in the final minute of the stanza to take a 37-36 lead into halftime. The Blue Hens led 36-30 with 1:32 left in the half, but Davis followed with two free throws and then knocked down a three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining. Wurtz was fouled after the basket and followed with two free throws to give GMU the one-point halftime cushion.

After Lewis converted a conventional three-point play 13 seconds into the second half, Delaware took over behind the hot shooting of Ames. The senior hit a jumper and a three-pointer within 39 seconds of each other to put the Blue Hens up for good at 41-40 with 18:52 remaining.

George Mason failed to score another field goal until Lewis converted a layup with 13:18 remaining, ending a drought of six minutes of 29 seconds. By that time the Blue Hen lead was up to eight points at 52-44. During the span, George Mason misfired on all three of its shots and committed eight turnovers.

The Patriots regrouped and used a 9-2 run, capped by a Butler three-pointer with 10:07 left, to cut the Delaware lead to 54-53, but could never get closer. The Hens answered with six free throws and a jumper by Calvin Smith to go back up 62-55 with 5:27 left and never led by less than seven points the rest of the way.