Game Story; JMU 76, George Mason 70

Saturday, January 18

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George Mason

James Madison

1/18/2003 2:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. (1/18/2003) – Wes Miller had six points and Charlie Hatter five during a 16-0 second half scoring burst that gave JMU control, and the Dukes went on to beat George Mason 76-70.

After having a 15-point first-half lead, JMU trailed 46-40 with 11:48 left in the game before taking control during the next 4:22. Hatter hit for his only field goals – a three-pointer with 11:18 left and a two-pointer with 10:54 remaining – to start the JMU surge, and Miller had three-pointers at the 9:58 and 7:26 marks, the second giving JMU a 56-46 advantage with 7:26 to play.

George Mason got as close as four points twice during the final 5:43 but never was closer. The Patriots last were within four at 66-62 on Jai Lewis' follow-up field goal with 54 seconds to play, but JMU, which hit on only 17 of 30 free throws overall, hit on eight of 10 the rest of the way.

JMU raced from a 6-6 tie 5:10 into the game to a 26-11 lead with 6:56 remaining in the opening half with five players contributing to the scoring and had a 29-24 halftime advantage. Chris Williams had 10 first-half points for JMU, but guards Jon Larranaga and Mark Davis each had six points during a 13-3 George Mason run to close the first half to get the Patriots to within five.

JMU got the first field goal of the second half, but George Mason pulled into a 35-35 tie on consecutive layups by Lewis and a Trent Wurtz layup off a steal with 16:31 to play. Young and Lewis then each added four points as the Patriots built their 46-40 lead.

Dwayne Broyles also had a three-pointer during JMU's 16-0 scoring run and led JMU with a season-high 20 points. He tied his career high of four three-point field goals and had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in 34 minutes.

Williams tied his career high of 18 points (8-of-11 shooting) in 26 minutes, and David Fanning had 10 points in 25 minutes for JMU. Miller hit on three of four three-point tries overall and tied his career scoring high with nine points, and Ian Caskill tied his career high with five blocked shots.

George Mason got 23 points from Davis, 15 points from Larranaga, 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds from Lewis and 12 points and nine rebounds from forward Jesse Young.

JMU shot a season-high 56 percent (25-45) overall and a season-best 53 percent (9-17) from three-point range.

George Mason had a 34-31 rebounding edge but shot only 42 percent (25-60) overall and 23 percent (3-13) from three-point range.