George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Florida State
Men's Basketball Falls to Florida State
12/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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WASHINGTON -- Playing its second game in as many days, the George Washington men's basketball team fell to Florida State, 67-48, in the BB&T Classic on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Center. GW dropped to 5-4 on the season after the game, ahead of a match-up on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at former A-10 foe Temple.
GW was led by Kevin Marfo's season-high 18 points against a big Florida State frontcourt that held Tyler Cavanaugh under 10 points for the first time in his career as a Colonial. Marfo's 18 came on a 6-of-10 effort from the floor, while the freshman also got to the free throw line 11 times and grabbed a game high-tying nine rebounds.
The Colonials were able to out rebound the Seminoles, 52-42, including a 23-12 edge on the offensive glass, good for a 20-9 advantage in second-chance points. Marfo took seven of his rebounds off the boards on the offensive end, while fellow freshman Arnaldo Toro plucked four of his six caroms offensively. Combined with center Collin Smith (nine rebounds), GW got 24 rebounds from the the three freshmen big men.
GW was also able to once again make more throws than the opposition attempted, with 16 makes in 24 attempts, as compared to Florida State's 5-of-8 line.
Florida State was led by 11 apiece from CJ Walker and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, while Dwayne Bacon tossed in 10, and all 12 players that saw action scored. Though GW battled in the second half to stay within three of the Seminoles in the second stanza, the 35-19 halftime deficit proved to be too much for the Colonials to overcome.
GW was playing its fourth consecutive game without second-leading scorer Yuta Watanabe, who has a calf injury, and second straight without graduate student Patrick Steeves, who has a knee injury. Additionally, Jordan Roland came off the bench and was limited to 13 minutes after suffering an ankle injury vs. USF.
"Right now we have our cards and we have to play poker; we have to figure out how we're going to win with the guys that we have," said interim head coach Maurice Joseph. "We have to have the next-man-up mentality. I'm certainly not going to hang my head, and I guarantee that I won't let any of our guys hang their heads. Win or lose, we're going to go to work. We're going to try to get better for the A-10 season."
