George Washington University
8-5 (0-0)
Miami
9-2 (0-0)
Men's Basketball Rallies but Falls at Miami, 72-64
12/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- In its non-conference regular season finale, the GW men's basketball team visited Miami on Thursday night and despite trailing by as many as 22 in the first half, the never-say-die Colonials fought all the way back and tied the game at 40-40 in the second half. The furious rally would sap GW however, as after clawing their way to tie the score with 15:00 to play, Miami regained the lead and pulled away in the final minute to take the game and drop GW to 8-5 on the season.
GW got a boost from the return of Yuta Watanabe, who had been out since Thanksgiving with a calf injury, and saw the junior from Japan lead the team in scoring with 15 points after coming off the bench. The Colonials were plagued by a bit of foul trouble though, with leading scorer Tyler Cavanaugh limited to 22 minutes of action.
The Colonials led briefly in the opening minute of the game after Collin Smith registered the game's first bucket, but Miami enjoyed a 32-8 run over the next 13-plus minutes to assume a 32-10 edge at the 6:35 mark of the opening period. From there GW answered with a 17-0 run, and outscored the Canes 30-8 spanning the intermission to tie it at 40.
"We had our opportunities," said interim head coach Maurice Joseph. "We dug ourselves in a hole, we fought back and I'm proud of our guys. We just didn't have enough down the stretch to finish the job."
Watanabe keyed the surge, and it was his bucket that evened the game before the Hurricanes reassumed control. Showing no signs of rust from the seven-game layoff, Watanabe made 6-of-9 shots in the contest, including 3-of-5 from long range, while grabbing six boards, assisting on three GW buckets to tie for team-high honors and leading the defense with two steals.
"Yuta willed us back," said Joseph. "His shot-making ability, his defense, he blocked a couple shots -- that surprised me, because I didn't know how much I would be able to use him with it being his first game back."
Cavanaugh finished with 13 points and five rebounds in his relatively limited action, while Jaren Sina threw in 11 while guiding the offense with a healthy 3:1 assist to turnover ratio. After going off for a career-high 27 points in GW's last outing, sophomore Jordan Roland stayed hot from the field but in limited attempts, as his 10 points came on 3-of-6 shooting (2-of-3 3PT FG).
Miami matched GW's four players in double figures in scoring, led by Davon Reed's game high 17 points, his seventh straight game in double digits. Backcourt mate Ja'Quon Newton chipped in 14 points and five assists, as Miami shot over the GW zone to the tune of an efficient 7-of-14 night from long range. The Hurricanes also made their freebies count with 15 points at the line on 19 tries (.789), and took care of the basketball with just six turnovers.
The Colonials were able to win the battle of the boards for the 10th time in 13 games this season by the narrowest of margins, 35-34, with freshman Arnaldo Toro pulling down 10 rebounds. It wasn't enough though to avoid falling to the Hurricanes for the first time in series history after GW had previously claimed all three prior meetings. The loss also marked the first time this season the Colonials lost with a starting unit of Sina, Roland, Cavanaugh, Toro and Collin Smith, as that opening line-up was previously 5-0.
Miami will return the home-and-home arrangement next season at the Smith Center, but GW now sets its sights on A-10 play with a clean 0-0 conference mark. The Colonials open conference action next Friday, December 30th, at Saint Joseph's at 7 p.m. on CSN+. In that contest, GW will look to avenge a pair of losses to the Hawks last season, including a defeat in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Championship. The Colonials were victorious at Saint Joseph's in the conference opener two seasons ago on Jan. 3, 2015.
