George Mason finished the season at 11-16, the most victories since a 20-12 mark back in 1989-90. The Patriots won eight games at the Patriot Center, also the most in six seasons. Junior guard Curtis McCants was named to the All-Colonial Athletic Associat ion first team, senior forward Kenwan Alford had a great all-around season, freshman guard Jason Williams emerged as a potent three-point shooter and junior center Bernard Wanjara was named to the CAA's All-Academic team.
The Patriots lost to the University of Richmond 93-77 in the CAA tournament's first round last Friday at the Richmond Coliseum. George Mason was the eighth seed after losing two close games on the last weekend of the regular season, falling to James Madis on 81-80 at home on Saturday, Feb. 24 and William & Mary 92-92 in Williamsburg on Monday, Feb. 26. The Patriots were 6-10 in the CAA, beating American and East Carolina twice each and Richmond and William & Mary once each.
McCants led the Patriots in scoring at 22 points per game, second best in the CAA. He led the CAA and was second nationally with 223 assists, an average of 8.1 per game, and moved up to ninth on the Patriots' all-time scoring list at 1,398. He already is the top assist producer with 598.
Alford hit 191 of 324 field goal attempts for a .591 percentage. He averaged 16.1 points per game and led the team in rebounding at 9.7 per game. He had 15 double-doubles, including 20 points and 14 rebounds in the finale against Richmond. Kenwan ended hi s career with 1,103 points and 676 rebounds to rank 14 and seventh on the all-time lists in those categories. He also played in 103 games, 88 of them consecutively. McCants has played in 81 straight games.
Williams broke Donald Ross' freshman record for three-pointers with 80. Ross hit 67 in 1991-92. Jason also tied the George Mason record with eight three-pointers and a career high 37 points in a 92-78 victory Feb. 5 at East Carolina.
In addition to being named to the All-CAA team, McCants was named Player of the Week by both the CAA and the ECAC on Jan. 14. He totaled 71 points and 17 assists in two games, hitting a career high of 33 against VCU on Jan. 10 and then upping it to 38 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Jan. 13. Alford was named CAA Player of the Week on Jan. 29 after scoring 45 points and grabbing 24 victories in the Patriots' victories over William & Mary (95-92) and American (95-85). Junior guard Nate Langley also was name d CAA Player of the week on Dec. 18 after scoring 56 points in two games.
Coach Paul Westhead lost five key players for various reasons during the 1995-96 season. Langley and 6-8 forward Kevin Ward were ruled academically ineligible in early January and are expected to return for their senior season in 1996-97. George Mason sig ned one player early, 6-6 forward Avery Carey from Hagestown Junior College and has two scholarships available for next season. Westhead won the 447th game of his career in the college and pro ranks and the Patriots ranked in the top five nationally in sc oring at 90.5 per game. The 142 points against Troy State was the highest in NCAA Division I.