Larranaga earns CAA wins record

Jim Larranaga stands alone — and so does George Mason.

Larranaga became the Colonial Athletic Association’s winningest coach last night, and the Patriots took over sole possession of first place in the league after a wild 69-62 win over UNC Wilmington. Larranaga, in his ninth season in Fairfax, now has 107 conference wins, passing Richmond coach Dick Tarrant at the top of the wins chart.

His team now sits atop the CAA after beating the squad it was tied with before a vocal crowd of 6,733 fans at Patriot Center. George Mason (17-5, 11-2 CAA) won its fourth straight and 10th in 11 games in the physical battle. UNC Wilmington (17-7, 10-3) saw its five-game winning streak snapped.

Jai Lewis led the Patriots with 19 points, including 14 in the second half as he took over in the post. George Mason guard Tony Skinn added 16 points, with four deep 3-pointers in the first half to keep it close. UNC Wilmington’s T.J. Carter had a game-high 21 points — 17 in the second half — before finally being shut down.

“Gabe [Norwood’s] defense on T.J. Carter was the key to the late stages of the game,” said Larranaga, whose team lost in Wilmington 69-63 on Jan. 21 when Carter scored 28 points. “He was not able to do what he did down there.”

The game began particularly ugly for the Patriots, who failed to score on their first seven possessions before Norwood’s midrange jumper cut the Seahawks’ lead to 7-2 with 14:20 left. George Mason had five turnovers and five fouls before finally making a field goal.

But Skinn shot the Patriots back into it, making four of his first five 3-point attempts, including a 35-footer from just inside the George Mason logo near halfcourt. The Seahawks led 30-27 at halftime, though, despite Skinn’s shooting and held a 20-12 rebounding advantage. George Mason had just one offensive rebound.

UNC Wilmington controlled the boards in the second half as well, at one point holding a 32-16 rebounding edge. George Mason ended the night outrebounded 35-27 and grabbed only three offensive rebounds.

But after two free throws by Carter gave UNC Wilmington an eight-point lead with 8:28 left, the Patriots unleashed a 14-2 run, allowing only one basket over the Seahawks’ next 11 possessions — a six-minute span. Lewis started the stretch with an inside basket. Norwood’s 18-footer with 5:33 left cut the lead to three before Sammy Hernandez found a seam for layup to make it 56-55.

An inside score by the Seahawks’ Mitch Laue pushed the lead to three, but Lamar Butler (10 points) scored on a reverse layup, and Lewis’ two free throws gave the Patriots a 59-58 lead. Folarin Campbell’s foul shot pushed the lead to three, and Lewis made one of two free throws to build a four-point lead with 2:39 left.

“They are a real physical team,” said Lewis, a 6-foot-7, 275-pound enforcer. “If you don’t go out there and be physical right back at them, they are going to push you around. You have to come out physical with them.”

The Seahawks closed to 62-60 on a pair of Carter free throws, but Butler answered with two foul shots to put the lead at four with 2:05 left. Carter’s floater in the lane cut the lead to 64-62 with 45 seconds left, but the Patriots responded by making five of six free throws to seal Larranaga’s record-breaking win.

So how will he celebrate?

“Get ready for the next game,” the 56-year old coach said. “That is nice, and I think it is great to keep records for fans to talk about and for the media to discuss and basically compare. But from a coaching standpoint, I was certainly focused on this game.”