Dec. 10, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason men's basketball took the court on Saturday night, trying to wash away two ugly memories. The first was a one-point loss in the final second at Old Dominion on Wednesday. The second was a 20-point loss to Creighton the last time the Patriots played at home. Consider both games wiped from the memory banks after Mason was able to down Radford, 81-69 at the Patriot Center.
Mason established an eight-point halftime lead by outscoring Radford 9-4 over the final three minutes of the first half. The Patriots then came out of the locker room and scored the first nine points of the second half to push the lead to 17. It stayed in double figures almost the rest of the way, never falling below eight as Mason (5-3) shot .556 from the field and .571 from 3-point range while outrebounding Radford, 34-27. The Highlanders (6-4) stayed in the game by making 17 of 19 free throws and by blocking seven Mason shots.
Mason's Jai Lewis and Radford's Charles Oliver each had 24 points and nine rebounds but Lewis had better support as Folarin Campbell scored 19 on 7 of 9 shooting and Lamar Butler added 15. White Holcomb-Faye had 20 for Radford but he was the only Highlander other than Oliver to reach double figures. Holcomb-Faye got his points despite shooting just 4 of 17 from the field as he went 9 of 9 from the free throw line.
Will Thomas had nine points and seven rebounds for Mason while Butler, Campbell and Tony Skinn each had five assists. Gabe Norwood added seven points, two rebounds, two steals, a block and three rebounds.
The game was tied at 24-24 before Mason finally exerted itself. Norwood had a layup and Butler followed with a 3-pointer to put the Patriots ahead by five. Reggie McIntyre made one free throw to make it 29-25 but Butler responded with a 3-pointer to make it 32-25. Duane Ricks added a free throw and Oliver nailed a 3-pointer to cut Mason's lead to three, but Norwood responded with a 3-pointer, Butler had a layup and Campbell had a pair of layups to counter an Oliver tip-in and two McIntyre free throws, giving Mason that eight-point lead at the break.
The flurry that opened the second half came behind Thomas and Lewis. Lewis had a steal on the opening possession and that led to a Thomas layup. The next time down, Lewis hit a 3-pointer and later, he had a layup to make it a 15-point lead. Thomas then had a tip-in that put the Patriots ahead, 50-33. The lead rose to as many as 18 before the Highlanders rallied to make the final 10 minutes interesting.
Mason had more talent on the inside and it showed as Mason outscored Radford in the paint, 40-18. The Patriots also had more fastbreak points, 10-4, and more points off turnovers, 21-8.
The Patriots now have an 11-day break before they return to the court on December 21 to take on Hampton at 7 pm.
