George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Holy Cross
Men's Basketball Holds Off Holy Cross, 70-68
12/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2009
WORCESTER, MA -- GW raced out to a 20-4 lead in the first nine minutes and never trailed en route to a narrow 70-68 victory over Holy Cross Monday night at Worcester, MA. GW, which improved to 9-2, enjoyed an 18-point lead late in the first half but needed to withstand a barrrage of second-half threes by the Crusaders to escape with the two-point triumph and remain perfect on the road this season at 5-0.
Tony Taylor nailed a pair of threes and Damian Hollis and Dwayne Smith each added a trey in the first nine minutes to get the Colonials off to a 14-3 lead and it looked like the Colonials would breeze.
After GW took a 36-22 lead into the locker room at the half, Holy Cross came out shooting and closed to within four at 44-40 behind the three-point shooting of Devin Brown. After GW pushed its lead back to 10 at 50-40, Brown came off the bench to nail four from long range and added a driving layup to get the Crusaders to within five (50-45) at the 7:39 mark.
Holy Cross's Adam May then hit a deep three-pointer to rally the Crusaders to within two (62-60) with 1:50 showing. Tony Taylor responded with a pair of free throws and a jumper to give the Colonials some breathing room at 66-60 before the Crusaders' Andrew Beinert buried a 25-footer with 33.7 showing to close to within 66-63. Hollis and Aaron Ware followed by converting a pair of free throws eachfor a 70-65 GW lead and Holy Cross's Brown made his fifth three-pointer of the night with five seconds remaining to close out the scoring. Mike Cavataio launched a half-court desperation shot that bounded off the backboard and the rim as time expired.
The victory matches GW's win total for last season at nine in the Colonials' third of four straight road games. The Colonials 5-0 record away from home is its best in 62 years when the 1947-48 squad opened with six straight road victories.
Holy Cross (2-10) had three players in double figures led by Brown's game-high 20 points, 17 in the second half including 5-7 from long range. HC's R.J. Evans added 16 points and Beinert contributed 13 for the Crusaders.
GW shot 43.8 percent from the field in the first half and held Holy Cross to just 26 percent shooting before halftime. The Crusaders found their stroke after the break and shot 53 percent (16-for-30) en route to 46 second-half points. Smith finished with his career-high 13 points and a team-high six rebounds. Taylor added 10 points and five assists.
GW remains in Massachusetts to prepare for a Wednesday game at Harvard (7-3) set for 7 p.m. in Cambridge, MA. The GW-Harvard game will be broadcast live on 1500 AM and 820 AM and as well as online at www.FederalNewsRadio.com.
