Jan. 19, 2005
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va.- George Mason junior forward Jai Lewis (Aberdeen, Md.) posted a game- and career-high 31 points and grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds in the Patriots 66-59 loss to Colonial Athletic Association foe Drexel Wednesday night at Patriot Center.
Guard Dominick Mejia matched a career-high with 23 points and shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range to lead Drexel to the victory. Center Chaz Crawford hauled in a game- and career-high 14 rebounds to go with eight points and four blocked shots.
The Dragons (8-6, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) won their fourth straight by holding the Patriots (7-8, 2-4), who have now lost three consecutive games, to just two field goals during the final 9:17, and hitting their outside shots down the stretch.
Drexel's leading scorer, guard Phil Goss, connected on just 2-for-10 from the floor, but hit a timely 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Dragons ahead 58-53 with 3:18 left. He finished with 10 points.
Until that shot from Goss, it was Mejia who had kept the Dragons in the game. Trailing 51-50 at the 7-minute mark, Mejia hit his final 3-pointer and scored twice from the free throw line for a 55-53 lead with four minutes to go.
Goss' trey ignited an 11-6 run over the final three minutes that kept the Dragons ahead by at least five points the rest of the way.
Lewis scored 16 in the second half and all but four of George Mason's points in the last nine minutes. The Patriots held a 30-20 lead with 4:41 remaining in the first half, but went scoreless for the remainder of the period, leading to a narrow 30-28 halftime edge.
Junior guard Tony Skinn (Takoma Park, Md.) added 11 points and a career-high seven rebounds for the Patriots, who made just 3-of-21 (14 percent) three-point field goals and shot 36 percent from the floor.
Drexel out rebounded George Mason, 41-38 and registered 16 assists compared to nine for the Patriots. Mason made 82 percent of its free throws, while Drexel shot 63 percent.
George Mason visits James Madison Saturday at 7 p.m.
Box Score
Drexel (8-6, 4-2 CAA) 28-38=66
George Mason (7-8, 2-4 CAA) 30-29=59
