Who but George Mason would give 'Nova such a scare?
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Villanova freshman Isaiah Armwood will never forget his first college points.
Armwood hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left as the fifth-ranked Wildcats escaped with a 69-68 victory over George Mason in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off yesterday.
Armwood, a 6-7 forward, got an assist from senior point guard Scottie Reynolds.
"Scottie drove the ball into the lane and I was open on the wing," said Armwood, who is from Baltimore and played at Montrose Christian Academy. "He had the confidence to pass me the ball and I made the shot. It felt good when it left my hand but it felt better when the game was over and we had won."
Reynolds saw the George Mason defense and made the pass. "When I got into the lane I could see all five defenders below me so I knew Isaiah was open," he said. "I threw it back to him and the slot on the wing is kind of his sweet spot. The only thing I didn't know was that it was a three - I thought it was a two when he shot it."
Villanova coach Jay Wright didn't exactly draw up the winning play. "We have confidence in all our guys but, in all honesty, he was the fifth option on the play," said Wright, whose team is 3-0. "I am so proud of him. That's a huge shot to make after not playing a lot of minutes during this game. But he was ready when we called on him and that's the sign of a guy with a great attitude, which he has."
GMU (2-1) didn't get off a shot after Armwood's basket. GMU led by 13 in the first half.
"This was one of those games where not much goes your way," Armwood said. "But we stayed together and kept battling and in the end were able to get the win."
Armwood's basket came on his only shot. He was on the court for 4 minutes after Antonio Pena and Taylor King fouled out. In three games, Armwood has three points, three rebounds and a block in 18 minutes.
"We'll take this one but we certainly didn't play the way we would have liked to have," Wright said. "I think you have to credit George Mason for that. They have a very distinct style - they want to push the ball up and down the court and turn you over. We didn't handle that as well as we wanted to but I like the fact we hung in there and battled."
Villanova played without 6-10 freshman center Mouphtaou Yarou, who had a viral infection and flew back to Philadelphia, a source told ESPN.com.
Reynolds scored 18 points and Corey Fisher had 17 for Villanova. Pena matched a career high with 12 rebounds and registered his second straight double-double with 10 points. Ryan Pearson led the Patriots with 14 points and Cam Long added 13.
Reynolds now has 1,660 career points. He surpassed Paul Arizin and Curtis Sumpter on the Wildcats' career scoring list to move into 12th place all-time.
"This is a big win for us," Reynolds said. "This team hasn't been through a game like this as a collective group. This is something we are going to look back on and draw from as we go through the season."
Ryan Pearson led GMU with 14 points and Cam Long added 13. Patriots coach Jim Larranaga, whose team led 37-28 at halftime, said he was happy with his team's effort. "With such a young team, the one thing I can't do is be impatient with them," he said.
Villanova will play No. 18 Dayton today at 3 p.m. in the semifinals. The Flyers defeated Georgia Tech, 63-59, yesterday. *
