George Washington University Athletics
Men's Basketball Outbombs Five Star, 98-83
11/9/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Colonials Explode For 98 in First Exhibition
WASHINGTON, DC (November)--GW's outside shooting may have been a concern for Coach Tom Penders coming into the season but his young Colonials had the green light and hit 10-of-32 from long range en route to a 98-83 preseason exhibition blowout over Five Star Hawks Tuesday night at Smith Center.
Freshman SirValiant Brown led all players with 29 points in his first taste of collegiate basketball. For Brown, it was the tale of two halves after the 6-1 guard struggled in the first half hitting one field goal and a pair of free throws for four points. A different Brown emerged in the second half taking advantage of solid screens to bomb 5-of-9 treys for 25 second-half points. Brown finished with six rebounds and pairs of assists and just two turnovers in 28 minutes.
Fellow newcomer Bernard Barrow, the heir apparent to the point guard position vacated by 1999 A-10 Player of the Year Shawnta Rogers, had a big game with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting including three three-pointers with a game-high eight assists. Barrow played all 40 minutes, mostly at break-neck speed, as he continuously pushed the ball up court as fast as the offense could go.
Rogers was in the crowd to watch his former team battle back from a five-point deficit (48-53) at the 16:01 mark of the second half to take a 58-57 lead on a layup by Barrow at the 14:15 mark. GW never relinquished the lead after that and punctuated the victory on a three-pointer by Mike King that rattled around the rim and fell as time expired for the final margin.
King was the third Colonial to score at least 20 points in the game as he converted 8-of-22 field goals to go with four rebounds and four assists. Junior Antxon Iturbe had a solid all-around game with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) on 4-4 shooting to go with two assists, two blocks and four steals.
GW (0-0, 0-0 A-10) hosts its second and final exhibition game of the preseason on Sunday, Nov. 14 when they take on the And 1 All-Stars at 2:00 p.m. at Smith Center. GW opens the regular season Nov. 19 against Indiana State at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, AK.
