Game Story; George Mason 70, JMU 70

Saturday, January 24

Fairfax, Va.

TBA

James Madison University

(4-12, 1-7CAA)

George Mason

(12-4, 5-2CAA)

James Madison

George Mason

1/24/2004 1:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. (1/24/2004) – George Mason, which had the last five points, overcame a 12-point early-second-half deficit in a 74-70 home win.

The Patriots held JMU scoreless after Ray Barbosa's follow shot gave JMU its last lead, 70-69, with 2:11 left and went up to stay 71-70 on Jai Lewis' layup with 1:54 left. After both teams missed on field goal attempts, JMU had a chance to regain the lead but missed on a pair of free throws with 32.9 seconds remaining.

George Mason got a free throw from Terry Reynolds with 26.8 seconds left to lead 72-70 and regained possession when a rebound of a missed JMU shot went out of bounds with 6.9 seconds left. The Patriots' Lamar Butler all but sealed the win with two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Mark Davis had 18 of his game-high 20 points during the second half to lead George Mason's rally. The Patriots also got 19 points and seven rebounds from Lewis, who had six straight George Mason points during the final four minutes.

Dwayne Broyles led JMU with 19 points, including 15 on three-point field goals. Barbosa added 16 points and a career-high eight rebounds and Daniel Freeman 10 points for the Dukes.

JMU shot 51.9 percent (14-27) during the first half and 48.3 percent (28-58) overall, but Dukes were successful on only three of six free throws while George Mason hit on 21 of 32. George Mason had a 34-31 rebounding advantage and committed only 11 turnovers to JMU's 17.

The Dukes hit on 11 of 23 three-point attempts. Broyles hit on five of seven three-point tries after connecting on only three of the long-ranged shots during JMU's previous four games. Barbosa had three three-pointers after having but two during the team's previous five outings.

George Mason had leads of 7-0 and 9-2, but JMU rallied to lead for the first time, 18-16, on a three-pointer by Cavell Johnson with 11:06 left in the opening half. The Dukes' 37-28 halftime advantage was their second nine-point edge, and the lead went to 40-28 when Broyles hit on a three-pointer during the initial possession of the final half.

George Mason went in front for the first time during the second half, 50-48, on Reynolds' layup and free throw with 9:33 remaining, and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way. JMU led 55-51 on a layup by David Cooper with 8:19 to play and 58-54 on a Broyles three-pointer with 7:17 left, but the lead changed hands 11 times during the final 9:33.