George Washington University
17-5, 6-3 A-10
DAVIDSON
12-8, 4-5 A-10
GW Men's Basketball Dispatches Davidson, 79-69
2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2016
Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
WASHINGTON -- Patricio Garino scored 17 points, Tyler Cavanaugh added 16 and the George Washington men's basketball team downed Davidson 79-69 Wednesday night at the Charles E. Smith Center.
The Colonials (17-5, 6-3 A-10) were efficient from the floor as they connected on 30-of-57 field goal attempts, including a 6-of-11 night from Garino. Yuta Watanabe's 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting gave the home team three double-figure scorers, and Watanabe also corralled six rebounds.
Joe McDonald was key to GW's success as his game-high 10 rebounds from the point guard position ignited a 38-29 edge for GW on the glass that also yielded an 18-11 advantage in second chance points and 40-22 margin in the paint.
GW's 10-point victory margin matched its largest lead of the game as the Colonials pulled away in the closing minutes. Free throws played a big role in the win as GW got to the line 17 times in the second half, connecting on 13, after making just 2-of-4 in the first half. For the game, the Colonials converted more freebies (15) than Davidson attempted (14).
Davidson, which came in with the Atlantic 10's top scoring offense averaging 80.8 points per game, was limited to 42.4 percent shooting by GW. Jack Gibbs turned in a game-high 25 points on 9-of-21 shooting and nine of the Wildcats' 25 made field goals came behind the three-point arc. Brian Sullivan (13 points) and Peyton Aldridge (11) joined Gibbs in double-figures in scoring for the Wildcats, who fell to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in conference play.
After a first half that featured four lead changes the Colonials held a 39-33 halftime lead, but Davidson came out hot by hitting 5 of its first 7 shots and retook the lead, 52-51, on a pair of free throws from Gibbs with 11:36 remaining.
GW responded, with Garino putting the score in favor of the Colonials for good with a pair of free throws of his own 14 seconds later. Davidson kept within two possessions until Alex Mitola knocked down a short jumper and Cavanaugh followed with a three-pointer with 5:54 left that stretched the lead to 68-60.
The lead hit double digits for the first time on a baseline jumper from Garino with 3:06 remaining and the Colonials closed it out from there.
Next up for GW is a huge A-10 clash with conference front runner VCU in Richmond on Saturday at noon on CBSSN.
Notes
- McDonald recorded double-digit rebounds for the third time this season (13 at USF, 10 vs. Gardner-Webb). With his nine points, he is now just two shy of 1,000 for his career.
- The Colonials reached the 40-point plateau in the paint for the fourth time this season (44 at UCF, 42 vs. Lafayette, 40 vs. Army).
- GW's 18 second-chance points were the second most this season and the most in a regulation game (24 vs. Richmond, double-OT).
- GW improved its home record since 2013-14 to 38-4 (.905) which is the best mark of any team in the A-10.
- The Colonials shot above 50 percent (.526) for the fifth time this season including the first since hitting .518 at UCF on Dec. 29.
- Cavanaugh reached double figure points for the 22nd time in 22 games while Garino led GW in scoring for the seventh time including the third straight game.
