George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
MASSACHUSETTS
Men's Basketball Outlasts Massachusetts, 66-60
2/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC -- George Washington freshman Lasan Kromah sank three second-half three-pointers en route to a game-high 22 points to lift the Colonials past visiting Massachusetts, 66-60, in a key Atlantic 10 game Wednesday night at Charles E. Smith Center. The victory allowed GW to supplant the Minutemen in the A-10 standings as the teams jockey for postseason seeding position entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
Kromah found his stroke in the second half. The 6-5 guard poured in 16 of his 22 points on 5-10 shooting from beyond the arc and propelled GW on a 13-3 run midway through the second half. Junior center Joseph Katuka recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Colonials won their second straight game and snapped a modest two-game winning streak for the Minutemen.
Massachusetts (10-16, 4-8) was led by Anthony Gurley's 16 points, 14 in the second half and Freddie Riley's 15 points, all of which came in the first half. Baltimore native Ricky Harris, the A-10's second leading scorer averaging 19.5 points a game coming in to Wednesday, was held to just 10 points on 3-9 shooting.
Both teams struggled with shooting both from the field and from the free throw line.
GW (14-10, 4-7) shot 33.9 percent (21-62) from the field and converted just 17-33 (51.5 percent) from the line. Both teams committed 14 turnovers but it was the Colonials' rebounding, and their ability to come up with key offensive rebounds late in the game, that made the difference. GW outrebounded the Minutemen, 55-34, including a 26-11 advantage on the offensive glass.
After a total of 19 fouls were called in the first half, 20 more were called within the first eight minutes of the second half. A key point in the game came at the 17:45 mark of the second half when UMass's Javorn Farrell was ejected after officials reviewed video and determined that he threw a punch in the direction of Damian Hollis under the GW basket. The technical foul sent Aaron Ware to the line where he converted the back end of two free throws to give GW a 33-32 lead. Hollis picked up his fourth foul at the 14:48 mark of the second half while helping with a double-team trap at half court. UMass's Hashim Bailey fouled out at the 6:48 mark and Hollis followed with his fifth foul one minute later.
Harris hit a long three with 21.2 seconds left to get the Minutemen to within two at 62-60. A subsequent foul on Taylor resulted in one of two free throws to give the Colonials a 63-60 margin. Kromah then went to the line and converted one of two as the Colonials hit just four of eight free throws in the game's final minute. UMass led, 31-29, at halftime behind Riley's 15 points including 4-for-6 from long range.
GW next travels down I-95 to Richmond to take on the No. 25-ranked Spiders (20-6, 9-2) this Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 1500 AM and 820 AM as well as online at www.FederalNewsRadio.com.
