George Washington University
22-9, 11-7 A-10
Davidson
18-11, 10-8 A-10
GW Men's Hoops Drops Regular-Season Finale at Davidson
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Patricio Garino and Yuta Watanabe scored 22 points apiece, but the George Washington men's basketball team fell at Davidson, 87-80, in Saturday's regular-season finale at Belk Arena.
GW heads into next week's Atlantic 10 Championship with a 22-9 overall record and an 11-7 league mark. The Colonials will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament and open play Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's game pitting the No. 12 and No. 13 seeds.
Garino made 9-of-14 shots, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range against the Wildcats, while Watanabe was 7-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-3 from deep while adding a game- and career-high six assists. His 22 points were also a career-high, besting his 21 against UMass on March 7, 2015.
Tyler Cavanaugh contributed 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Kevin Larsen notched a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to give the Colonials four in double figures.
GW dominated the boards to the tune of a 41-28 advantage, including 17-7 on the offensive glass, but was unable to overcome 31 points from A-10 leading scorer Jack Gibbs. The Wildcats shot 55.9 percent from the field.
A back-and-forth first half included seven ties and 12 lead changes, with neither team leading by more than five points. Trailing 23-19 midway through the opening period, the Colonials used an 11-2 run with five points from Watanabe to seize a 30-25 lead.
After Gibbs scored six straight points to put the Wildcats on top, Watanabe regained the lead for GW with five in a row to make it 35-31 with four minutes to go. With the score see-sawing, Davidson tallied the final four points of the half for a 42-39 lead at the break.
Garino scored the first five points of the second half for a 44-42 lead, but a 9-0 Davidson run put the Wildcats on top for good. A pair of Watanabe free throws with 9:21 remaining made it a one-point game, but Brian Sullivan knocked down a 3-pointer and Nathan Ekwu followed with a layup to reopen a six-point advantage.
Sullivan finished with 19 on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three, while Peyton Aldrige added 18 for the Wildcats (18-11, 10-8 A-10).
