Men’s Basketball Wins A-10 Opener at Saint Joseph’s

Sunday, January 6

Philadelphia, PA

2:00 p.m.

George Washington University

5-9 (1-0 A-10)

Saint Joseph's

7-7 (0-2 A-10)

George Washington

Saint Joseph's

Terry Nolan Jr.

1/6/2019 5:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Interview

Terry Nolan Jr. turned in a gem with 23 points and 12 rebounds

PHILADELPHIA -- With most of the City of Brotherly Love anticipating the NFL's Wild Card Sunday afternoon matchup involving Philly's Eagles, the George Washington Colonials stormed the historic city looking to steal a college basketball game on the undercard. Seeking to win its conference road opener for the first time since the 2014-15 season, also at Saint Joseph's, GW did exactly that.

Behind 6-foot-2 sophomore Terry Nolan Jr.'s first career double-double (game highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds), the Colonials secured a 1-0 record in the new conference season with a 70-56 win.

While it didn't start well for GW as the Buff and Blue quickly found themselves down 14-2, and trailed by 10 with :37 seconds to play in the first half, the Colonials played the role of Rocky in Philly and in the hostile road environment came fighting back. The Colonials took their first lead of the game early in the second half when junior DJ Williams coolly canned two freebies to give GW a 35-34 lead with 15:55 to go. Sophomore Maceo Jack followed with a pair of free throws of his own, before a Justin Williams lay-in gave the Colonials a five-point edge. The A-10's leading scorer, Saint Joseph's Charlie Brown, stopped the bleeding with a bucket, but Nolan answered back and Justin Mazzulla Euro-stepped his way to a seven-point cushion for the visitors. All told GW enjoyed a 21-4 spurt that turned the 10-point deficit into the touchdown and extra point advantage.

After the Hawks trimmed to three, a Javier Langarica three-point play off a no-look dish from Mazzulla boosted the Colonials' edge to six once again, but Saint Joseph's punched back to get within three again. The teams traded buckets before a Jared Bynum three-pointer for Saint Joseph's evened the scorecards at 50-50 with 7:39 left.

A 52-52 game saw a tip-in by Maceo Jack just before the under-4:00 media timeout give GW a two-point edge, 54-52, entering the game's final round, and from there the Colonials were simply dominant. Nolan drained a corner three out of the timeout and another Justin Williams attacking score served as a near knockout blow. Before it was over, what was once a tied affair at 52, was 65-52 GW three minutes and 13 points later, and the visitors enjoyed the final minute in triumph.

Nolan's most complete game of his career in the tough road test was complemented by double-digit scoring outings from teammates and classmates, Mazzulla and Jack. Mazzulla finished with 13 points (5-of-8 shooting), a team-high six assists and six rebounds, while Jack netted 12 with eight boards.

Brown finished with 20 points for the Hawks, but it took him 23 shots to get there as GW harassed Saint Joseph's into a .323 shooting performance, including .179 (5-of-28) from three-point range. The Colonials also used their secret sauce of making more free throws than the opposition attempted. GW was true on 19-of-22 trips to the line (.864), while the home squad struggled through a 9-of-14 (.643) performance. Nolan actually almost did the deed on his own in a personal 10-of-12 show from the charity stripe. He contributed two blocks and a steal on the other end for good measure.

GW now returns to Washington, D.C. for its conference home opener on Wednesday night against Dayton at 7 p.m. All-time great Pops Mensah-Bonsu will be featured at the game.