Feb. 28, 2004

Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. - Junior guard Terry Reynolds (Nashville, TN/Toledo) made two free throws with 51 seconds remaining for visiting George Mason to seal a 70-66 win over Colonial Athletic Association foe Old Dominion Saturday night in the men's basketball regular season finale for both teams.

With the win, George Mason, which has won three-in-a-row, secures the No. 3 seed in the upcoming CAA Tournament, which will be held Friday-Monday, March 5-8, at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA. Old Dominion moves into the No. 4 slot in the championships.

Sophomore guard Lamar Butler (Oxon Hill, MD/Oxon Hill) tallied 18 points, hitting four 3-pointers, to lead the Patriots (19-8, 12-6 CAA). Sophomore guard Tony Skinn (Takoma Park, MD/Hagerstown CC) scored two of his 10 points on a layup to cap a 15-4 run that gave the Patriots a 60-50 lead with 6:06 left. John Waller made one of his four 3-pointers for the Monarchs (16-11, 11-7 CAA) to close the gap to 66-62 with 1:31 remaining, but Old Dominion could not pull closer.

Waller also had help from forward Arnaud Dahi, who posted 10 points and guard Isaiah Hunter's 13. Forward Alex Loughton nearly had a double-double with eight points and 16 rebounds. All 10 players scored for Mason, which received five rebounds each from sophomore forwards Jai Lewis (Aberdeen, MD/Maine Central Institute) and Trent Wurtz (Sheboygan, WI/Sheboygan North).

The Monarchs raced out to a 10-point lead on two occasions in the game's first 11 minutes, but a 10-0 Patriot run that included five from Butler, tied the contest at 21 with 7:38 left in the stanza. Skinn made a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the first half to cap a 9-4 spurt that gave the Patriots a 33-32 lead at halftime.

The Patriots shot 43.9 percent from the floor made 7-of-22 three-pointers. The Monarchs out rebounded Mason, 38-34, and shot 42.4 percent for the game.

George Mason will face sixth-seeded Delaware Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal round match at the CAA Tournament in Richmond. The winner of the contest will take on the winner of the #2 Drexel vs. #7UNC Wilmington/#10 James Madison contest at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The CAA Championship is Monday night at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Box Score
George Mason (19-8, 12-6 CAA) - 33-37=70
Old Dominion (16-11, 11-7 CAA) - 32-34=66