ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 8, 1996 TAG: 9612100041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: STATE
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Nate Langley scored 28 points and had seven assists and Demetrius Somerville added 16 as George Mason overcame poor shooting to defeat Colorado 85-81 at Fairfax on Saturday.
Colorado (4-2) enjoyed its biggest lead of the game at 53-42 with 14:31 left in the contest. But Mason (3-1) went on a 9-0 run as Langley's basket with 12:04 remaining cut the lead to 53-51.
Ben Wanjara put the Patriots ahead for good on his only shot from the field with 5:45 remaining off a pass from Langley.
Somerville, who played high school ball in Colorado Springs, hit four of seven 3-pointers for the Patriots. Nik Mirich added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Mason, Contrell Scott had 10 points and Kevin Ward had 10 rebounds.
The Buffaloes were led by pre-season all-American Chauncey Billups, who had 21 points and 9 assists. Former Georgia Tech player Martice Moore added 19 points for Colorado.
In other state games Saturday:
Washington 73, James Madison 68: At Harrisonburg, Todd MacCulloch scored 38 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Huskies beat the Dukes.
MacCulloch scored 20 of Washington's 35 points in the first half. He was 15 of 18 from the field for the Huskies (4-1).
But the Dukes (2-2) almost spoiled MacCulloch's big day.
Ned Felton hit two free throws and Ryan Culicerto hit a 3-pointer to bring the Dukes within 43-44 with 11:50 remaining. The Dukes outscored the Huskies 40-37 in the second half.
Four Dukes were in double figures. Felton and Culicerto had 13 points apiece. Howard had 12 points and Boozer 10 points.
Liberty 84, Howard 70: At Lynchburg, Larry Jackson scored 16 points to lead four Liberty players in double figures as the Flames beat Howard.
Liberty (6-1) dominated throughout, opening a 41-32 lead by halftime. The Bison (0-4) could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Peter Aluma had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Flames. Jabari Outtz led the Bison with 27 points.
Old Dominion 57, Hampton 46: At Hampton, Odell Hodge scored 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots for the Monarchs.
Old Dominion is 6-0 for the first time since the 1979-1980 season.
Hampton (0-4) led 32-29 at halftime. But the Pirates scored just 14 points and shot 24 percent from the field in the second half.
Hampden-Sydney 88, Lynchburg 85: The Tigers nearly blew a 15-point lead in the final 8:34 in winning an Old Dominion Athletic Conference game at Lynchburg.
Otis Tucker scored 18 of his game-high 22 points after intermission for Lynchburg (3-3, 1-1), but the Hornets got no closer than 86-85 on his 3-pointer with 1:09 to play. Loyal Grimes made two free throws with two seconds left and Tucker's desperation 3-point try was off the mark at the buzzer.
Jason Ferguson scored 16 for Lynchburg, Mike Preston added 14 and Rodney Early (Rockbridge County) had 11. Jeremy Harris and Chris Fox led Hampden-Sydney (6-0, 2-0) with 16.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Colorado's Marlon Hughes (left) dives for a looseby CNBball in front of George Mason's Nik Mirich in first-half action at
Fairfax. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL