Dec. 5, 2005

Box Score

Washington, D.C. - The George Mason men's basketball team took on American University at the MCI Center on Monday evening in the 11th annual BB&T Classic and Mason set several tournament records while having its most dominant performance in nearly five years as the Patriots downed American, 75-35. For Mason, it was its 12th straight win over the Eagles.

The Patriots set tournament records for largest margin of victory and fewest points allowed as Mason scored the game's first 16 points and built a 29-3 lead en route to its third straight win. Mason had more points in the first four minutes than American did in the first 26 minutes. The Patriots made more 3-pointers in the first half, seven, than American did field goals, five, and Mason finished the game with as many 3-pointers, 14, as American did field goals.

Lamar Butler had a game-high 23 points and when he went to the bench with just under eight minutes to play, he had outscored American, which at that point had just 22 points. Tony Skinn was 5 of 6 from 3-point range in the first half when he scored all of his 15 points. Folarin Campbell had a game-high four assists and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Will Thomas added seven rebounds while Jai Lewis had eight points and five rebounds. Mason outrebounded American 49-40.

For the third straight game, Mason did an excellent job passing the ball, as the Patriots tallied 19 assists. Mason also had a season-highs with seven blocks and 12 steals and turned in its best opponent field-goal percentage, holding the Eagles to .226 shooting.

Things started fast for Mason. Skinn hit a 3-pointer on Mason's first possession, Will Thomas added a lauyp and Lewis hit a 3-pointer and a jumper to make it 10-0 and forcing American to burn a timeout. The stoppage didn't help, though, as Skinn made back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 16-0. After Andre Ingram made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 16-1, Campbell responded with a jumper to make it 18-1 just over six minutes into the game.

Brayden Billbe scored American's first field goal at the 13:22 mark tipping in a missed shot. But Mason then went on an 11-0 run to essentially end the game. Butler scored his first basket, Thomas scored in the paint and Butler added a pair of jumpers and a 3-pointer to make it 29-3. Ingram scored in the paint to make it 29-5 but Butler hit another jumper and Skinn made a pair of 3-pointers to close out Mason's scoring in the half. When the teams went to the locker room, Mason led 37-12.

The second half saw the bench play the final 7:44 and increase the Mason lead during that time. Tim Burns had a season-high eight points, Sammy Hernandez scored four points and Chris Fleming, Charles Makings and Jordan Carter each had two points. Only Makan Konate and Gabe Norwood failed to score but Norwood contributed with four assists, five rebounds a block and three steals.

The 40-point win was Mason's largest margin of victory since a 104-62 win over East Carolina on January 27, 2001. Mason followed that win with a 38-point win over American. That combined 70-point margin of victory over two games was the second-highest total in school history. This Mason team has tied that mark with its past two performances as a 30-point win over Georgia State preceded the game against American.

The Patriots' ability to play the bench so many minutes could prove critical as Mason has a big game on Wednesday night. The Patriots will travel to Norfolk to take on defending CAA champion Old Dominion. Game time for that contest is 7 p.m.