Jan. 12, 2006
Box Score
The George Mason men's basketball team opened the second half with a 7-0 run to build a 16-point lead and Mason kept the lead at nine or more the rest of the night as the Patriots took a 65-46 road win at William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association action.
The win was the seventh-straight for Mason against William & Mary and 11th in the past 12 meetings. Jim Larranaga is now 13-4 against William & Mary as Mason head coach, the most wins he has against any school. The victory was also the 150th for Larranaga at Mason. Larranaga already holds the school record for career wins.
Mason has now won four straight overall and 10 of its past 12 games. The Patriots have tied the second-best 15-game start to a season in school history, matching the 2003-04 team's 11-4 start. The 1983-84 team opened the season 13-2.
Tony Skinn scored 19 points while Will Thomas had 14 points and seven rebounds. Mason's defense was its usual stingy self as the conference's leader in field-goal percentage defense held William & Mary to .353 shooting. Mason (11-4, 5-1) entered the game 12th in the nation in that statistic.
William & Mary's Laimis Kisielius converted a pair of free throws in the first two minutes to open the game's scoring but the Tribe (5-9, 0-5) found it difficult to score after that. Mason went on an 11-0 run during that stretch and William & Mary didn't sink its first field goal until 12:15 was remaining in the first half, making it 11-4.
The Tribe managed to score more consistently after that, but William & Mary could get no closer than six over the rest of the half. For the 12th straight game, Mason took a lead into the half, a 29-20 edge which was cushioned as Tony Skinn hit a 3-pointer with three seconds to go in the half.
At the break, Skinn led all scorers with 12 points. In the process, he passed Earl Moore for 32nd on the Mason career scoring list. He also passed Amp Davis for seventh on the career 3-pointers list.
If not for Skinn and Thomas, who had nine first-half points, Mason would have been in a lot of trouble. At the break, Tim Burns, who had played just 46 minutes all season, had scored more points than starters Jai Lewis, Lamar Butler and Folarin Campbell combined.
Luckily for the Patriots, those starters, each of which averages in double figures, were not needed, as Mason opened the second half with the brief run that put the game away.
The win was the 101st CAA win for Jim Larranaga, bringing him to within five of tying the league record for coaching wins, held by Richmond's Dick Tarrant.
Mason returns to action on Saturday when the Patriots play at James Madison at 7 p.m.
