Jan. 11, 2006

The George Mason men's basketball team returns to the road this week with contests at William & Mary and James Madison, as the Patriots look to remain in first place in the Colonial Athletic Association while extending their winning streak. The Patriots (10-4, 4-1) have currently won three straight, their third three-game winning streak of the season.

Mason takes on William & Mary on Thursday night at 7 p.m. That game is in Williamsburg and Mason will be looking to continue its dominance over The Tribe. Under Jim Larranaga, Mason is 12-4 against William & Mary and the Patriots have won the past six games in the series, as well as 9 of the past 10.

William & Mary is currently 5-8, 0-4 on the season. They are an opponent that Mason players enjoy facing. Folarin Campbell's career-high 23 points came against The Tribe last year on a night he shot 8 of 8 from the field. As a sophomore, Jai Lewis grabbed 16 rebounds against William & Mary, a figure which lasted as a career high until two months ago, when he had 17 against Creighton. Lamar Butler's first career start came against William & Mary more than four years ago.

Mason currently leads the CAA in field goal percentage (.483), field goal percentage defense (.379) and scoring margin (11.4). The Patriots are 12th in the nation in field goal percentage defense.

On Saturday, Mason will play James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va. The Dukes are currently 3-9, 0-4. They host Virginia Commonwealth on Thursday. The Dukes suffered a blow earlier this week when Cavell Johnson was ruled academically ineligible for the remainder of the season. He was the second-leading scorer and rebounder on the team with averages of 13.4 ppg and 7.9 rpg.