George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Rhode Island
Men's Basketball Runs Down Rhode Island, 66-55
3/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2011
KINGSTON, RI - Tony Taylor scored a game-high 23 points and the GW defense harassed Rhode Island into 19 tunovers en route to a 66-55 victory over the Rams at URI's Ryan Center.
GW came out strong and shot 52 percent in the first half to build a 7-point lead (28-21) before settling for a 32-29 halftime lead. Taylor paced GW with nine first-half points and the Colonials' defense harassed the Rams into committing 11 turnovers before intermission.
URI led by as much a seven midway through the first half before GW went on an 18-4 run to take a 28-21 lead at the 2:22 mark and never trailed again.
The Colonials closed the game on a 16-4 run to blow open a tight contest and coast to the victory. Although GW never got untracked from long range, the Colonials did find their stroke from the line in the second half. GW shot just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the arc and converted just 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from the line in the opening half. In the second half however, Taylor and Bryan Bynes combined to convert 10-of-10 from the line to keep the Rams at arm's length.
Rhode Island was led by Jamal Wilson's 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. Delroy James also doubled with 12 points and 11 rebounds in his final regular-season game at the Ryan Center.
The victory moves GW into a tie for fifth place in the A-10 standings with Rhode Island. All 14 A-10 teams will be in action this Saturday for the final day of the regular season. The top four teams receive a first-round bye in the 2011 A-10 Championship while seeds 5-8 host a first-round game against seeds 9-12. The quarterfinals, semifinals and final all take place at Atlantic City, NJ, Mar. 11-13.
GW (16-13, 9-6 A-10) concludes the regular season by hosting Dayton (19-11, 7-8 A-10) on `Senior Day' and the only regular-season meeting with the Flyers on Saturday, Mar. 5, at the Smith Center. Saturday's game will mark the final regular-sesaon home appearances for seniors Joseph Katuka and Jabari Edwards who will be recognized in a pregame ceremony along with senior team manager, Carol Vergis. The GW-UD game will tip at 2 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast on 1500 AM, 820 AM as well as at FederalNewsRadio.com.
