Feb. 12, 2005

Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Junior guard Tony Skinn (Takoma Park, Md.) had 23 points, nine of which came in two overtimes, to lead George Mason over William and Mary 104-99 on Saturday afternoon in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball at William & Mary Hall.

Freshman guard John Vaughan (Lanham, Md.) scored 18 of his career-high 21 points in the second half and overtime periods and junior guard Lamar Butler (Oxon Hill, Md.) totaled 20 for the Patriots (14-9, 9-5 Colonial Athletic Association). Junior forward Jai Lewis (Aberdeen, Md.) had 19 points and 11 rebounds for his 15th career double-double.

Both Nathan Mann and Nick D'Antoni recorded 25 for William and Mary (5-18, 1-13). It was a career-high for Mann. Hawley Smith tied his rebounding career high of 11, and Corey Cofield registered 19 for the Tribe.

Following a 29-29 first half tie with 4:40 remaining, William & Mary closed with a 12-4 run and was ahead 41-33 at halftime. The Tribe led by as many as 12 points, 69-57, with 6:45 left in the second half when the Patriots went to a full court trapping defense that ignited an 14-5 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from Butler that put it at 74-71 with 2:51 remaining.

A lay up from Mann pushed the Tribe lead to 78-73 with 1:54 on the clock, but W&M missed the front end of two 1-on-1 free throws with under a minute remaining. The Patriots' Lewis capitalized, scoring three points to trim the deficit to 78-76 with 15 seconds left. A steal by Butler with 10 seconds remaining led to a layup from Vaughan that tied it at 78-78 with 7 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Mason sophomore guard Gabe Norwood (State College, Pa.) missed one free throw then sank the second to put George Mason up by two with 15 seconds left in overtime. The Tribe's Reid Markham missed a jumper at the other end of the court with 3 seconds left, but Cofield got the rebound and put back to tie it at 93-93 and send the game into a second overtime.

William and Mary started the second overtime out strong, going up by four, 97-93, with 3:43 remaining. Butler's sixth 3-pointer of the game put the Patriots ahead, 97-98, at the 1:57 mark and consecutive lay ups from Vaughan increased the advantage to five with 39 seconds on the clock. Skinn's two free throws with 11 seconds remaining capped an 11-2 run by the Patriots to end the game up by five.

Freshman forward Will Thomas (Baltimore, Md.) added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Patriots, who shot 55 percent from the floor and 56 percent from 3-point range. William & Mary connected on 44 percent of its field goals and 45 percent from long range. The Tribe entered the contest shooting over 70 percent from the line, but managed only 63 percent against the Patriots.

George Mason visits Va. Commonwealth Monday night at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score
George Mason (14-9, 9-5 CAA)	33-45-15-11=104
William & Mary (5-18, 1-13 CAA)	41-37-15-6=99