George Washington University
(3-3)
Penn State
(4-3)
Men's Basketball Falls to Penn State, 74-68
11/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
WASHINGTON -- Despite playing without injured starter Yuta Watanabe (calf, day-to-day), and having the GW reserves outscoring their counterparts, 26-11, the Colonials had their record on the season evened at 3-3 after falling to Penn State, 74-68, on Saturday afternoon at the Charles E. Smith Center.
GW got seven first half points apiece from a pair of bench players in sophomore Jordan Roland and freshman Collin Smith, while Matt Hart and Jaren Sina both chipped in five in the opening stanza, to give the Colonials a 32-23 edge at the intermission.
It was a tale of two halves, however, as after holding the Nittany Lions to 10-of-30 shooting in the first half and only two trips to the free throw line (1-of-2), GW allowed 51 points on the scoreboard in the second half. Penn State connected on 50 percent from the field after the break (15-of-30), including 3-of-7 from three-point range, while parlaying early GW foul trouble into an 18-of-20 half at the free throw line to secure the game.
"We have to work towards putting 40 minutes of basketball together," said interim head coach Maurice Joseph. "It's a marathon and we have to be able to sustain energy throughout the course of the game. We have to be able to stay locked in, knock down shots and take care of the ball."
GW saw Penn State erase its halftime deficit in the early minutes out of the locker room, as Penn State surged ahead with a 13-2 run to open the frame. The opposition's lead grew to 10 with 9:37 to play at 52-42, only to face a strong answer from GW. Capped by a Jaren Sina three, GW went on a 9-0 spurt to pull within one at the 6:42 mark, but that was as close as GW would get.
Roland and Smith each finished with 11, and Sina registered 13 points in a game-high 37 minutes without committing a turnover, while Tyler Cavanaugh extended his GW career-long run of double-figure scoring with 15 points, all in the second half.
Penn State was led by Mike Watkins' 20 points and eight boards, while Lamar Stevens provided balance with 18 of his own on 7-of-11 shooting. The Nittany Lions also got 12 and 10 from the backcourt combo of Tony Carr and Shep Garner.
The loss snapped a 27-game non-conference home winning streak for the GW, which dated back to Dec. 8, 2012. Next on GW's schedule is a Tuesday night meeting at Harvard, with tip-off set for 7pm.
