Wednesday, December 4
Washington, DC
7:00 PM
George Washington University
4-5,0-0Atlantic 10
64
vs
63
Boston University
3-6,0-0Patriot
1
2
F
Boston U.
35
28
63
George Washington
28
36
64
GW Men's Basketball Beats Boston U. on Buzzer Beater
12/4/2019 10:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WASHINGTON — For 39 minutes and 59 seconds on Wednesday night at the Charles E. Smith, the GW faithful saw an eventful game that featured, to that point, four ties and 11 lead changes. It was the 12th and final lead change milliseconds before the final buzzer sounded that sent Smith Center into delirium.
Trailing by nine under two minutes to play, hope was just a prayer for the Buff and Blue of GW. Yet inspired by Head Coach Jamion Christian's relentless positivity and preaching of connectivity, the Colonials bonded perhaps unlike any other time thus far in Christian's tenure, and gave one last hopeful push to the finish. Bracketed by his own free throw that cut the BU lead to eight with 1:56 to go, Javier Langarica, the Beast from Bilbao, Spain, saved his best for the buzzer. After he corralled an errant shot for his lone offensive rebound of the night, Langarica cooly lofted the ball back towards the bucket and banked home the final basket to give GW a thrilling, 64-63, win over Boston University.
Amusingly, Langarica's three points in the final 1:56 of the game marked his lone points of the evening -- but the game's most important tallies. He had plenty of help on the comeback trail as GW employed a frenetic defense worthy of the MAYHEM tag to claw all night long. First-year Jameer Nelson Jr. had four of GW's nine steals, and after fellow first-year Jamison Battle buried his third three-pointer of the night with 1:09 to play to cut the deficit to three, it was senior stud Armel Potter who got his hands on the Colonials' biggest steal of the night. Potter chased down a 50/50 ball after the Terriers struggled to inbound cleanly, and attacked the rim to earn two freebies with :59 ticks to go. He calmly drained both to give GW a final shot at a defensive stop to set the stage for the win on the other end.
GW did exactly that, but not exactly as it was drawn up. The home team got the stop it needed and after Maceo Jack secured the defensive board, Potter had a pair of good looks to put his team ahead. While neither went in, the soft touch on his second would-be game-winner allowed Langarica, in his solid post position, to play the role of hero of the game.
In the victory, the Colonials saved their biggest run for the end as they scored the game's final 10 points. Nelson Jr. tied for game-high honors with 17 points, while also tying his classmate Battle for the team lead with six rebounds, to go with his game-high steals total. Battle, for his part, netted 11, as he continues to show one of the country's best pure shooting strokes. Potter finished with 15 and Jack totaled 11 to give GW four in double-figures in scoring.
While it wasn't always pretty, the Colonials stuck to Christian's script and made three more threes than their foe (7-to-4), while also taking care of business at the free throw line. GW shot .846 from the charity stripe on the night (11-of-13), to outdo BU's 7-of-12 effort (.583).
Despite BU holding the edge in rebounds, points in the paint, second-chance points, fast break points, bench production, field goal percentage and assists, while having fewer turnovers, GW was at its best when its best was required, a mantra of their Head Coach.
Now sitting at 4-5 on the season, GW has a chance to get back to .500 on Saturday when Delaware comes to town for a 4 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+ and the TuneIn app.
Trailing by nine under two minutes to play, hope was just a prayer for the Buff and Blue of GW. Yet inspired by Head Coach Jamion Christian's relentless positivity and preaching of connectivity, the Colonials bonded perhaps unlike any other time thus far in Christian's tenure, and gave one last hopeful push to the finish. Bracketed by his own free throw that cut the BU lead to eight with 1:56 to go, Javier Langarica, the Beast from Bilbao, Spain, saved his best for the buzzer. After he corralled an errant shot for his lone offensive rebound of the night, Langarica cooly lofted the ball back towards the bucket and banked home the final basket to give GW a thrilling, 64-63, win over Boston University.
Amusingly, Langarica's three points in the final 1:56 of the game marked his lone points of the evening -- but the game's most important tallies. He had plenty of help on the comeback trail as GW employed a frenetic defense worthy of the MAYHEM tag to claw all night long. First-year Jameer Nelson Jr. had four of GW's nine steals, and after fellow first-year Jamison Battle buried his third three-pointer of the night with 1:09 to play to cut the deficit to three, it was senior stud Armel Potter who got his hands on the Colonials' biggest steal of the night. Potter chased down a 50/50 ball after the Terriers struggled to inbound cleanly, and attacked the rim to earn two freebies with :59 ticks to go. He calmly drained both to give GW a final shot at a defensive stop to set the stage for the win on the other end.
GW did exactly that, but not exactly as it was drawn up. The home team got the stop it needed and after Maceo Jack secured the defensive board, Potter had a pair of good looks to put his team ahead. While neither went in, the soft touch on his second would-be game-winner allowed Langarica, in his solid post position, to play the role of hero of the game.
In the victory, the Colonials saved their biggest run for the end as they scored the game's final 10 points. Nelson Jr. tied for game-high honors with 17 points, while also tying his classmate Battle for the team lead with six rebounds, to go with his game-high steals total. Battle, for his part, netted 11, as he continues to show one of the country's best pure shooting strokes. Potter finished with 15 and Jack totaled 11 to give GW four in double-figures in scoring.
While it wasn't always pretty, the Colonials stuck to Christian's script and made three more threes than their foe (7-to-4), while also taking care of business at the free throw line. GW shot .846 from the charity stripe on the night (11-of-13), to outdo BU's 7-of-12 effort (.583).
Despite BU holding the edge in rebounds, points in the paint, second-chance points, fast break points, bench production, field goal percentage and assists, while having fewer turnovers, GW was at its best when its best was required, a mantra of their Head Coach.
Now sitting at 4-5 on the season, GW has a chance to get back to .500 on Saturday when Delaware comes to town for a 4 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+ and the TuneIn app.
Team Stats
BU
GWU
FG%
.456
.390
3FG%
.267
.304
FT%
.583
.846
RB
35
34
TO
14
15
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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