George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
TOWSON
Men's Basketball Takes Down Towson, 73-67
12/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC -- The George Washington men's basketball team shot 48 percent in the second half and 44.4 percent overall in a 73-67 victory over Towson in a non-conference tilt Wednesday at GW's Smith Center. It marked just the second time in eight games that the Colonials shot a higher percentage than their opponent.
GW sophomore forward Dwayne Smith led the Colonials with 18 points, including a key three-pointer with 2:33 left to give GW an eight-point cushion at 69-61. The Colonials got some solid backcourt play from guards Tony Taylor and Dan Guest who combined for 13 assists and just four turnovers in the game.
After GW opened up a 14-point lead (36-22) on a tip-in by David Pellom with five minutes left in the first half, Towson went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to five (36-31) with 2:10 remaining before the break. A Smith layup and a three-pointer by Nemanja Mikic gave GW a 41-33 advantage at the half. GW's defense forced the Tigers into 16 first-half turnovers and 23 for the game, a season-high for a GW opponent.
Towson closed to within two at 61-59 on a Polk layup with 6:37 remaining but GW was able to work the lead back to 10 on an emphatic dunk by Joseph Katuka (11 points, 7 rebounds) with 2:01 showing. Towson scored six of the last eight points for the final margin.
A scary moment occurred late in the second half when GW's Tim Johnson and Tony Taylor collided while going for a loose ball with 6:37 left. The impact sent Johnson to the bench with a bloody nose.
Towson (2-5, 0-1 CAA) was led by Josh Brown and Rashawn Polk each with 18 points. Brown connected on 4-8 from beyond the arc. The Tigers' Braxton Dupree added 17 points while Isaiah Philmore contributed 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. With Wednesday's triumph, GW has won nine of its 10 meetings with the Tigers.
GW (3-5, 0-0 A-10) now takes a nine-day break for final exams before returning to action Dec. 18 at Oregon State (3-4) in Corvallis. The GW-OSU game will tip at 7:30 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast on 1050 AM and at FederalNewsRadio.com . The game will be televised by FSN Northwest and available on DirecTV.
