George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
18-5 (7-3 A-10)
VCU
17-6 (9-1 A-10)
GW Stops Streaking VCU For Monumental Road Win
2/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2016
RICHMOND, Va. - -- For the first time in school history the GW men's basketball team won at VCU, snapping the Rams' 12-game winning streak with a 72-69 victory Saturday afternoon.
Patricio Garino led the way for GW with a career- and game-high 27 points, including a career-high four three-pointers in seven attempts. As a team GW buried 8-of-18 from behind the arc, none bigger than Joe McDonald's go-ahead triple to give GW a 71-69 lead with 1:12 to play.
With the win the Colonials improved to 18-5 on the season and 7-3 in A-10 play, while handing VCU (17-6, 9-1 A-10) its first loss in conference action. GW had gone winless in three previous games at VCU and snapped a four-game losing streak in the series.
After rallying from second half deficits of nine and six, the Colonials took their first lead of the second half when a Kevin Larsen lay-up gave GW a 66-65 lead with under three minutes to play. VCU regained the lead on its next possession with a pair of free throws, and went ahead 69-66 on a jumper by Melvin Johnson with 2:13 remaining.
The Colonials, though, would not allow VCU to score for the rest of the game. Tyler Cavanaugh made it 69-68 on a tough jumper with 1:55 left, and after a VCU turnover Larsen kept a GW possession alive with an offensive board before kicking out to McDonald as the senior added to his legacy of clutch shots.
With GW clinging to a two-point lead with 10.8 seconds to play, VCU called a time-out and GW regrouped for one last defensive stand. The Colonials withstood a go-ahead three-point attempt and offensive putback in the closing seconds before McDonald corralled the rebound and was fouled. The senior extended GW's lead to three on the other end to account for the final tally.
Earlier in the contest, McDonald also tallied his 1,000th career-point after entering the game just two shy of the milestone.
Garino, whose previous career-high of 25 also came against VCU, elevated a recent streak of stellar play. The senior came in averaging 17.7 points over the last three games and nearly met that total in the second half alone when he tallied 16. For the game, Garino connected on 11-of-16 from the field.
JeQuan Lewis led VCU with 16 points, though was limited by a hounding GW defense to 6-of-16 field goals, on an afternoon when the Colonials kept VCU under 40 percent from the floor (23-of-59, .390). For the Colonials, McDonald and Cavanaugh chipped in 11 points apiece to join Garino in double figures. Cavanaugh extended his run of scoring in double figures in every game as a Colonial, and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
GW won the turnover battle against VCU committing 10 compared to the hosts' 12, but easily outdistanced the Rams in converting those miscues on the other end with a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers. GW also held a 16-9 edge in second chance points.
The win marked GW's fifth road win of the season (5-3), matching last season's road win total and approaching the team's six road wins from the 2013-14 season that culminated in a NCAA Tournament berth.
Up next for GW is another huge A-10 clash, this time coming at home against St. Joseph's on Wednesday night. The Hawks entered play on Saturday in third place in the conference standings at 7-2, one spot ahead of GW and Saint Bonaventure. Wednesday's game will air on Comcast SportsNet at 7:00 pm. The Colonials travel to play Saint Bonaventure next Saturday.
Notes
- GW has overcome halftime deficits in three of its last four wins. In the second half of the last two games, the Colonials have shot 53.7 percent (13-21 vs. Davidson, 16-33 today).
- McDonald became the 47th member of GW's 1,000 point club when he knocked down his first shot of the game. McDonald joins Garino (1,328) and Larsen (1,274) on the list. Grad student and Dartmouth transfer Alex Mitola has also scored over 1,000 in his career.
- Garino moved past Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Mike King into 21st place on GW's career scoring list. He also recorded the eighth 20-point game of his career and first this season.
- VCU's 12-game winning streak coming into the game was the second longest in the nation.
- The Rams came in ranked second nationally in steal percentage and averaging 20.9 points per game off turnovers. GW committed 10 turnovers which yielded just four points.
- GW recorded its second win this season when trailing with 5:00 to play (also Rhode Island).
