Matadors Continue Road Trip at George Mason

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---CSUN Men's Basketball continues the Cancun Challenge with a stop at George Mason on Saturday with tip off slated for 3 p.m. (PT). The game will be streamed live on the A-10 Network and an audio only broadcast will be available on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ghizal Hasan on the call.

Following the game at George Mason, the Matadors will head to Cancun and play two games on Thanksgiving week. CSUN takes on Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday, Nov. 21 and the Matadors will play another game a day later against either Binghamton or Montana State. The contests in Mexico represent the first regular season games to be played outside the United States in program history.

CSUN kicked off the Cancun Challenge at Fresno State on Monday, falling to the Bulldogs 89-73. The Matadors led in the early going by as many as six points before a late first-half run by the Bulldogs turned the tide of the contest. The two teams battled to a standstill in the second half, but the Matadors were unable to make up the halftime deficit.

Freshman Terrell Gomez led the Matadors in scoring with 18 points to go along with five assists while Lyrik Shreiner posted 16 points in his first career start with the team. Tavrion Dawson collected all 11 of his points in the second half while Micheal Warren and Jalon Pipkins chipped in with 10 points apiece. As a team, the Matadors shot 46.3 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (8-for-16).

Gomez is enjoying an outstanding start to his Matador career as he is averaging 16.5 points and 5.0 assists per game through two games. He is also shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Along with Gomez, Shreiner has made an impact in the early going of his CSUN career. A redshirt sophomore, Shreiner is scoring 13.5 points per game to go along with 5.5 rebounds and 45.8 percent shooting from the field.

On Thursday, CSUN head coach Reggie Theus announced the signings of transfers Jordan Bell, Josh Jefferson and Amel Kuljuhovic to national letters of intent. Bell, a sophomore, played his freshman season at Northwestern State University in 2016-17 while Jefferson and Kuljuhovic are currently playing their sophomore seasons at Lake Land College in Matoon, IL. All three are eligible to suit up for the Matadors beginning in the 2018-19 season.

CSUN has never faced George Mason in program history. In all, the Matadors have only played two Atlantic 10 Conference teams all time. The Matadors fell to Xavier 101-65 during the 1994-95 season and CSUN suffered a 97-74 setback to Duquesne in the 2007-08 campaign.

A Closer Look at George Mason
The Patriots are 2-1 thus far this season after defeating Binghamton 69-57 in a Cancun Challenge game on Thursday. Earlier this season, George Mason earned a 76-75 with over Lafayette but fell to Louisville 72-61. A season ago, George Mason went 20-14 including 9-9 in the Atlantic 10 as it set a new program record for conference wins. The team played in the College Basketball Invitational, losing in the opening round.

Sophomore Justin Kier leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game while junior Jaire Grayer is posting 14.3 points and 9.7 rebounds this season.

Matadors Continue Road Trip at George Mason

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Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Lyrik Shreiner

Micheal Warren