George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Navy
Navy's Threes Sink Colonials, 64-57, in BB&T Classic
12/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2010
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WASHINGTON, DC -- The George Washington men's basketball team played solid defense but still struggled to find its rhythm offensively in a 64-57 loss to Navy in the second game of the 16th Annual BB&T Classic tripleheader Sunday at the Verizon Center.
Navy entered Sunday's game riding a string of three straight 80-point performances. GW sophomore forward David Pellom led the Colonials with an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double, the first of his career. GW junior Tony Taylor added eight points and a season-high seven assists. Bryan Bynes contributed his season-high 11 points and a career-high six steals.
GW shot just 31 percent (18-58) for the game while the Midshipmen shot 45.5 percent (20-44) from the field. It was Navy's long range shooting, however, that was the difference as the Mids sank 11 of their 25 attempts compared to 3-for-22 three-pointers for GW. GW narrowly outrebounded Navy, 38-37, but owned the offensive glass, 13-5.
After GW opened the game with a 7-2 lead, Navy began to assert themselves from long range and eventually took an 8-point lead (31-23) on a trey by Greg Brown with 3:45 left in the first half. A Dwayne Smith layup with one second left got GW to within 31-27 at the break.
The Colonials fell behind by as much as 14 points (59-45) after a pair of free throws by Romeo Garcia with 3:41 remaining in the game but managed to cut the deficit to five on a three-pointer by Bryan Bynes with 31 seconds left. The Colonials' strategy of fouling the Midshipmen almost paid off as Navy converted just 5-12 from the line over the final 1:37.
Navy (4-6) was led by Jordan Sugars' game-high 20 points on 8-13 shooting including 4-8 from beyond the arc. Sugars' teammate, O.J. Avworo (10 points), was the only other Mid in double-figure points.
It marked GW's first loss to Navy in nearly 30 years when the Mids prevailed, 69-65, on Feb. 14, 1980 in Annapolis. Despite Sunday's setback, GW still leads the all-time series with Navy, 21-20.
GW (2-5) returns to Smith Center to host Towson (2-4) this Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. That game will be broadcast on 1500 AM, 820 AM and at FederalNewsRadio.com as well as live video streaming on www.GWsports.com.
