Dec. 7, 2005

Box Score

Norfolk, Va. - Old Dominion was able to muster just one basket in the final 4:43 of Wednesday night's game with George Mason, but it's a basket that will likely give Mason players, coaches and fans nightmares for weeks to come.

With time winding down and the Monarchs trailing at home by two, Drew Williamson took an inbounds pass with 4.4 seconds to play, dribbled twice and launched a 25-footer from the top of the key that hit nothing but net on the way down, giving Old Dominion a 54-53 win over Mason in Colonial Athletic Association action.

Mason (4-3, 1-1) put together a terrific effort but couldn't keep the Monarchs off the offensive boards, as Old Dominion had 17 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Mason 39-29. The Patriots held the Monarchs to .322 shooting from the field and .250 from 3-point range but second-chance points and 15 Mason turnovers kept Old Dominion (6-1, 1-0) in the contest.

Mason built leads throughout the game only to have Old Dominion battle back in the contest. The Patriots went up 16-10 only to see the Monarchs go on an 11-0 run behind a pair of Alex Loughton 3-pointers. Mason rallied, though, responding with a 12-2 run to go ahead 30-25. Loughton made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining in the half to make it 30-27 at the break.

Early in the second half, Mason converted several fastbreak opportunities to bild its largest lead of the game, a seven-point edge. Tony Skinn had a pair of layups on the break, Folarin Campbell added a basket off a block and Gabe Norwood had a dunk off a Jai Lewis steal to put the Patriots ahead 41-34. Once again Old Dominion rallied, this time behind Arnaud Dahi, as he scored four points in a 13-5 stretch that put the Monarchs up by one, 47-46.

A Skinn 3-pointer with 7:05 to play put Mason ahead, 49-47, but two Valdas Vasylius free throws tied the contest. Williamson then made a layup with 4:43 to go, which was Old Dominion's last basket until the game-winner, 4:42 later. In that time, Lewis made a pair of baskets inside to give Mason a two-point lead to set up the final frantic moments.

Mason played the game with a six man rotation with Lewis, Campbell, Skinn, Lamar Butler, Will Thomas and Gabe Norwood all playing 27 minutes or more. Sammy Hernandez played six minutes. Lewis finished with game highs in points and rebounds, with 15 and 12, respectively. He was 7 of 11 from the field. Skinn had 13 points while Norwood had five points and four assists. Butler finished with nine points, but all came in the first half as he failed to connect on any of his second-half shots.

Free throw shooting proved a factor in the game as Old Dominion was 10 of 14 from the line while Mason was just 4 of 8. After opening the game 3 of 17 from 3-point range, Old Dominion connected on 3 of its final 7 attempts.

Mason has just a few days to shake off the effects of the loss as the Patriots will host Radford on Saturday in just their second home game of the season. That contest is set for a 7 p.m. start.