Dec. 30, 2004
Box Score
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Junior guard Lamar Butler (Oxon Hill, Md.) scored a game- and career-high 36 points to lead George Mason to a 76-65 win at Morehead State Thursday (Dec. 30) evening at Johnson Arena. Butler's 36 was the best individual scoring performance by a Patriot since George Evans registered 38 points against Toledo in 1999.
Butler, who posted 27 first-half points, hit 12-of-20 from the field, including six-of-12 from three-point range, and six-of-seven from the free throw line for the game. The Patriots (6-4) also got 13 points from junior guard Tony Skinn (Takoma Park, Md.). Mason freshman forward Will Thomas (Baltimore, Md.) pulled down a game- and career-high 10 rebounds.
Junior guard Quinton Smith led four Morehead State (6-5) players in double figures with 21 points. Sophomore guard Josh Reed scored 16, while freshmen center Jonathan True had 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Chad McKnight battled foul trouble throughout the game and registered 10 points.
Mason led by as many as 19 points in the first half, 37-18 with 4:54 left, and was on top 42-28 at halftime. The Eagles took an early 6-0 lead, but Butler scored the Patriots first nine points in tying the contest at 9-all at the 15:59 mark. He finished the first half going 8-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.
The Patriots stretched the lead back out to 18 points early in the second half, and while Morehead State outscored Mason, 37-34, in the second half, the Eagles could get no closer than seven points on two occasions with under four minutes left in the game.
Mason shot 41.0 percent for the game and 77.3 percent from the free throw line, making 17-of-22. The Eagles connected on 44.6 percent of their field goals and 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the charity stripe. The Patriots held Morehead State to 21.1 percent 3-point shooting and out rebounded MSU, 42-30.
George Mason returns home to continue Colonial Athletic Association play against Virginia Commonwealth Wednesday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m.
Box Score
George Mason (6-4) 42-34=76
Morehead State (6-5) 28-37=65
