George Washington University Athletics
GW Goes Green, Opens Four-Game Homestand Thursday Against Bradley
12/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2011
GW vs. Bradley Notes (12/15/11) 
| Bradley Notes
GW vs. Bradley Green Game Online Program
WHO: George Washington Men's Basketball (4-5)
WHAT: 2011-12 Season Game #10 vs. Bradley (4-4)
WHERE: Charles E. Smith Center (4,338), Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
HOW: Tickets
AUDIO: GW All-Access, FederalNewsRadio.com, 1500/820/1050 AM (Byron Kerr, Yegor Mescheriakov)
Game will begin on all stations, switch to 1050 AM only at approximately 8 p.m.
VIDEO: GW All-Access
STATS:
PROMOTION: Green Game - Join GW as we recognize one of the university's key strategic initiatives: Sustainability. Special group ticket rates are available for Green organizations.
WASHINGTON - George Washington men's basketball plays its first of four consecutive home games at Charles E. Smith Center on Thursday at 7 p.m., against the Bradley Braves of the Missouri Valley Conference. Thursday's game is the Green Game promotion recognizing the university's sustainability efforts - for more information about Sustainability at GW, visit sustainability.gwu.edu.
The contest will pit a pair of coaches in their first year at their school in GW's Mike Lonergan and Bradley's Geno Ford. The two coaches have had similar starts to their debut seasons at their respective schools - Lonergan and GW started 4-1 only to drop four straight to fall to 4-5, while Ford and BU started 3-0 only to drop four straight before rebounding with a win over Northeastern last Tuesday to even their mark at 4-4.
Thursday's meeting is the fifth all-time between GW and Bradley in a series that dates back more than 70 years to the 1938-39 season. The previous four games consisted of a pair of home-and-home series - one in the 1938-39 and 1939-40 seasons, and the other in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons - with the home team winning each game. Bradley won the most recent meeting, 75-65, in Peoria, Ill., on Dec. 8, 1999 as GW shot just 33 percent. However, the Colonials won the last meeting at Smith Center, 91-71, on the day after Christmas 1998 behind recent GW Athletic Hall of Fame selection Shawnta Rogers' 24-point, 11-assist double-double and 12 points from Yegor Mescheriakov, who serves as an Athletics Marketing and Sponsorship Assistant and radio analyst for GW.
Most recently, GW (4-5) lost to the nation's new No. 1 team and then third-ranked Syracuse, 85-50, on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Junior David Pellom led the Colonials in scoring for the second straight game with 12 points and classmate Dwayne Smith reached double-digits for the first time this season with 10 points. The loss marked the team's fourth straight to drop GW to 4-5 overall, after three victories in three days at the Progressive CBE Classic in Bowling Green, Ohio, put the team at 4-1 overall through five games.
The Colonials' recent four-game skid has come against Kansas State, VCU, Loyola (Md.) and Syracuse, which currently boast a combined 30-5 record. Of the five teams GW has lost to so far this season, their combined record is 38-7 (California - 8-2; Kansas State - 6-1; VCU - 6-3; Loyola (Md.) - 8-1; Syracuse - 10-0). The combined opponents' record from GW's four victories is 15-28 (UMES - 3-8; Detroit - 5-7; Austin Peay - 2-9; Bowling Green - 5-4).
GW is the only (and will be the only) Atlantic 10 Conference team to have played three true road games against programs from the six power conferences this season - California (Pac-12), Kansas State (Big XII) and Syracuse (Big East). The Colonials' current strength of schedule ranks 52nd nationally according to RPIratings.com.
Bradley (4-4) recently snapped a four-game slide with a 79-68 victory over Northeastern at home in Peoria, Ill., on Dec. 6. Walt Lemon, Jr., turned in career-highs of 24 points, seven steals and five assists to lead the Braves to the win.
Geno Ford is in his first season as head coach at Bradley after posting a 68-37 overall record and earning back-to-back MAC Coach of the Year awards in 2010 and 2011 in three seasons at Kent State from 2008-11. While Ford has never coached against GW, he did play against GW as a guard at Ohio from 1993-97. Ford and the Bobcats beat the Colonials, 82-76, in the 1994 Preseason NIT.
Taylor Brown has four double-doubles this season and leads Bradley in scoring with 16.1 points per game and adds 8.6 rebounds an outing. Dyricus Simms-Edwards adds 13.6 points per game, and Lemon, Jr., provides 10.6 points per game. Jordan Prosser grabs a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game.
Thursday's game marks Bradley's fourth away from home in its last five games. The Braves have not won away from Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria, going 0-3 in one true road game and a pair of neutral site games in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.
Bradley University's president Joanne Glasser is a native of Baltimore and a 1973 graduate of George Washington. She also serves as the chair of the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification, vice chair of its Executive Subcommittee and is a member of the Board of Directors: Division I Presidential Advisory Group.
After four straight postseason trips from 2006-09, including the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the Braves have missed the postseason each of the last two years.
