Dec. 29, 2000
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Brian Jones scored 22 points, including a game winning pair of free throws with 39 seconds left, as Santa Clara defeated George Mason 78-76 in double overtime Friday night in the first round of the Cable Car Classic.
Jamie Holmes added 19 points as the Broncos (6-6) won their second straight.
Erik Herring scored 22 points to lead George Mason (7-3), which saw a four-game winning streak end. Herring became the 22nd player in Patriot history to reach 1,000 points for his career - he's currently at 1,010.
Rob Anderson added 11 points and George Evans had 12 rebounds for George Mason.
The game saw 17 lead changes in the game, which was tied on 18 other occasions. It was the fourth overtime game in the tournament's 34-year history and the first since a double-overtime game in 1997.
Santa Clara advances to Saturday's championship game against the winner of the later game between second-ranked Stanford and Fordham.
The game was George Mason's first appearance in the Classic and the Patriots' first visit to California since a 110-106 victory over Cal Poly during the 1995-96 season.
The Patriots scored the first five points of the second half, but Santa Clara came back to take a 44-43 lead on Kyle Bailey's jumper with 11:44 to play.
The game seesawed for the next few minutes until Justin Holbrook's three-pointer with 5:01 remaining gave Santa Clara a 56-54 edge. The Broncos held the lead until Herring tied the game at 63 with a fadeaway jumper with 50 seconds left.