GAME NOTES: After a dominating victory over Division II Catawba, the George Mason Patriots take aim at their fourth win of the season when they host the Iona Gaels in non-conference play on Saturday evening.

The Gaels come into this contest following back-to-back home victories, the most recent being a 91-84 triumph over the Indiana State Sycamores last Saturday night. Iona now holds a record of 6-3 after that win.

Prior to its victory over the Catawba Indians, George Mason had dropped two straight against Old Dominion and Northern Iowa. But the Patriots rebounded with a 99-69 win over the Indians on Wednesday night. George Mason now sits at 3-6 on the season.

This marks the fourth time these programs have squared off, with George Mason leading the series, 2-1. The sides last met in November of 2013 with the Patriots losing at Iona, 89-73.

David Laury finished with a double-double in Iona's victory over Indiana State, as he scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Isaiah Williams also had a strong showing with 27 points and seven boards, while Schadrac Casimir played well, netting 16 points and grabbing six rebounds. The Gaels finished the night shooting an impressive 47.5 percent from the field, including a .367 shooting percentage from 3-point range. After allowing the Sycamores to score on 63.3 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half, Iona played much better defense after the break, holding ISU to 10-of-26 shooting in the final frame.

Laury (18.3 ppg), Casimir (16.6 ppg), and Williams (15.4 ppg) have all been the top scorers for the Gaels this season. The team's top offensive option has been A.J. English, who currently averages 24.4 ppg. English is presently the top scorer in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference while Laury, Casimir, and Williams rank third, fourth, and fifth respectively. Iona's offense has been a big reason for its success this season. At the moment, the Gaels rank first in the MAAC in scoring (86.0 ppg), field goal percentage (.484), 3-point shooting percentage (.433), and assists (161). Although those stats are impressive, Iona isn't performing well at the defensive end. The Gaels rank dead last in the MAAC in scoring defense (78.7 ppg), and next-to-last in 3-point field goal percent defense (.380).

Shevon Thompson's double-double (29 points, 10 rebounds) led the way for the Patriots in their recent victory over Catawba. Other contributors in the win were Isaiah Jackson (14 points), Marko Gujanicic (12 points), Trey Porter (11 points, seven rebounds, four blocks) and Marquise Moore (11 points). George Mason shot an impressive 66.7 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range. The Patriots also finished with 13 blocked shots, and a total of 21 assists.

Thompson (11.4 ppg) and Moore (10.6 ppg) have been two of the top-three scorers for George Mason this season. The top option for the Patriots has been Patrick Holloway, who is averaging 13.8 ppg. Thompson has led the team in rebounding with 10.6 rpg. George Mason has been shooting a decent 42.6 percent from the field. However, the Patriots are connecting on just 28.9 percent of their 3-point tries. George Mason is also allowing teams to score 69.7 ppg, ranking it in the bottom half of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

In two losses before their game against Catawba, the Patriots allowed their opponents to score an average of 73 ppg. That defensive performance just won't cut it against the high-powered offense of Iona.