Nov. 5, 2008

The George Mason men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game of the 2008-09 preseason on Wednesday night as the Patriots host Division III Randolph-Macon at Patriot Center at 7 p.m. Mason is coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 while the Yellow Jackets enter the 2008-09 season as one of the top Division III teams in the nation.

Mason returns eight players from last year's 23-win team including three starters. Four seniors, one junior and three sophomores will take the court for the Patriots while five freshmen will wear a Mason uniform for the first time in front of the home crowd. Fifth-year senior John Vaughan, a preseason second-team All-CAA selection is the Patriots' leading returning scorer. He leads all active Mason players in points, rebounds, assists and 3-pointers.

Randolph-Macon won 20 games last year and the Yellow Jackets were selected first in the ODAC Preseason Coaches Poll. With four returning starters and twelve returning letter winners, the Yellow Jackets find themselves ranked fifth in the DIII News Top-25 Preseason Poll and 14th in the D3hoops.com Top-25 Preseason Poll. The most high-profile Randolph-Macon players are point guard Justin Short, a first-team All-Conference selection last year, and Jordan Brown, the ODAC Freshman of the Year in 2007-08.

Mason will open its regular season on November 15 with a road game at Vermont. Mason's home opener is set for November 17 at 7 p.m. against Brown.