March 2, 2006
A trio of George Mason men's basketball players were honored by the Colonial Athletic Association on Thursday night for their achievements this season as senior forward Jai Lewis was named first-team All-CAA, senior guard Tony Skinn was named second-team All-CAA and sophomore forward Will Thomas was named to the CAA All-Defensive Team. The Patriots are currently 22-6 and are CAA regular-season Co-Champions. They begin play in the CAA Championship on Saturday in the quarterfinal round at 6 p.m. against the winner of Friday's game between Towson and Georgia State.
Lewis is quite familiar with All-CAA honors. He was named first-team All-CAA in 2003-04 and second-team All-CAA in 2004-05. This season, he is also NABC first-team All-District, making him eligible for All-America honors. Lewis leads the Patriots with 14.3 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game. He is third in the CAA in field-goal percentage (.566), fifth in rebounding and eighth in scoring.
Skinn has also had a previous All-CAA honor. Last year, he was named to the All-CAA third team. This year, he is second on the team in scoring, assists and 3-pointers and first in steals and free throws. He is aveaging 13.0 points per game and 2.9 assists per game with 48 3-pointers and 47 steals. He is also shooting 80 percent from the free throw line on 88 of 110 shooting.
Thomas was a member of the CAA All-Rookie Team last year and this year, he has faced the opposition's top post player in nearly every game. He has regularly held the conference's most consistent performers to sub-par efforts. He's also been quite productive at the offensive end, leading the conference in field-goal percentage. He is shooting .587 from the field, scoring 11.1 points per game and grabbing 7.0 rebounds per contest, 10th in the conference.
The Patriots are the second seed in the CAA Championships, losing the tiebreaker to co-champion UNC Wilmington. Should Mason win the quarterfinal game on Saturday, the Patriots would play on Sunday night on Comcast SportsNet at 6 p.m. They would take on either Hofstra, VCU or William & Mary
