Wednesday, March 13
Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)
1:00 pm
George Washington University
9-23
68
vs
64
Massachusetts (A-10 First Round)
11-21
1
2
OT 1
F
UMASS
30
26
8
64
George Washington
29
27
12
68
Photo courtesy of Mitchell Leff/Atlantic 10
Men’s Basketball Advances to 2nd Round of A-10 Championsip
3/13/2019 4:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Colonials survived UMass with a 68-64 overtime victory
BROOKLYN -- In a Wednesday matinee at the Barclays Center, George Washington met UMass in an opening round match-up. Having downed the Minutemen earlier this season in DC, the Buff and Blue entered with confidence that for the sixth year in a row, victory in their opening game of the tournament would be theirs.
Despite a difficult first seven minutes of play that saw GW fall behind 25-11 early, the Colonials were undeterred. While it took overtime to vanquish UMass this time, GW got it done. In rallying back from the 14-point hole, GW was a fraction of a second away from taking its first lead of the game going into intermission when a Maceo Jack half-court heave banged home, but it was waved off as he didn't get it off in time. Though the shot didn't count, the good feelings did and GW came out in the second determined to stay at least another day.
A switch to man-to-man defense flummoxed UMass, and the Buff and Blue D allowed a stingy .286 second half field goal percentage to set the stage for an entertaining finish. GW took its first lead of the game on a Terry Nolan Jr. jumper with 17:25 to play, and while the lead changed hands seven times, neither squad held more than a six-point advantage after the break.
Down two with under two minutes left on the clock, Justin Williams knotted the game with a lay-in at the 1:45 mark, and both teams locked down on defense for a scoreless final 105 seconds.
In the extra session, the Colonials never trailed and put the game away at the line. Despite only connecting at a .667 clip from the stripe in the contest, GW's volume at the charity stripe thanks to aggressive play all game made all the difference. Playing as the home team as the better seed, the home club sank 24-of-36 freebies in the contest, compared to visiting UMass' 10-of-22 performance. It's not often that a team makes more free throws than the opposition attempts when the foe gets to the line 22 times, but GW did exactly that in using an old formula to cook up the win.
Having been hobbled by a heel injury since he played just five minutes at Fordham on March 6th, Nolan looked good as new on Wednesday. With a team-high 20 points, the sophomore was as efficient as he was prolific, as it took just eight field goal attempts to rack up his score. The Baltimore product was 6-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-3 from long distance, and got to the line nine times. Backcourt mate and classmate Maceo Jack finished a point behind with 19, while hitting GW's other two three-pointers, and swiping three steals on the defensive end as part of the Colonials' effort that forced 16 turnovers. The Buff and Blue parlayed that performance into a 12-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Not to be lost in the scoring act of his classmates, fellow soph Javier Langarica was a beast on the boards. Giving up nearly 100 pounds to his low post combatant, Rasheen Holloway, the Spaniard nearly equaled him on the glass. Lanagarica's 11 rebounds almost matched Holloway's dozen, but more importantly keyed an effort on the glass that saw GW outrebound the Minutemen, 50-45.
As it goes in March though, surviving today means another game tomorrow, when the George Mason Patriots lie in wait. The third meeting of the schools this season tips at 2:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network with GW looking for revenge after the previous two meetings.
Despite a difficult first seven minutes of play that saw GW fall behind 25-11 early, the Colonials were undeterred. While it took overtime to vanquish UMass this time, GW got it done. In rallying back from the 14-point hole, GW was a fraction of a second away from taking its first lead of the game going into intermission when a Maceo Jack half-court heave banged home, but it was waved off as he didn't get it off in time. Though the shot didn't count, the good feelings did and GW came out in the second determined to stay at least another day.
A switch to man-to-man defense flummoxed UMass, and the Buff and Blue D allowed a stingy .286 second half field goal percentage to set the stage for an entertaining finish. GW took its first lead of the game on a Terry Nolan Jr. jumper with 17:25 to play, and while the lead changed hands seven times, neither squad held more than a six-point advantage after the break.
Down two with under two minutes left on the clock, Justin Williams knotted the game with a lay-in at the 1:45 mark, and both teams locked down on defense for a scoreless final 105 seconds.
In the extra session, the Colonials never trailed and put the game away at the line. Despite only connecting at a .667 clip from the stripe in the contest, GW's volume at the charity stripe thanks to aggressive play all game made all the difference. Playing as the home team as the better seed, the home club sank 24-of-36 freebies in the contest, compared to visiting UMass' 10-of-22 performance. It's not often that a team makes more free throws than the opposition attempts when the foe gets to the line 22 times, but GW did exactly that in using an old formula to cook up the win.
Having been hobbled by a heel injury since he played just five minutes at Fordham on March 6th, Nolan looked good as new on Wednesday. With a team-high 20 points, the sophomore was as efficient as he was prolific, as it took just eight field goal attempts to rack up his score. The Baltimore product was 6-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-3 from long distance, and got to the line nine times. Backcourt mate and classmate Maceo Jack finished a point behind with 19, while hitting GW's other two three-pointers, and swiping three steals on the defensive end as part of the Colonials' effort that forced 16 turnovers. The Buff and Blue parlayed that performance into a 12-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Not to be lost in the scoring act of his classmates, fellow soph Javier Langarica was a beast on the boards. Giving up nearly 100 pounds to his low post combatant, Rasheen Holloway, the Spaniard nearly equaled him on the glass. Lanagarica's 11 rebounds almost matched Holloway's dozen, but more importantly keyed an effort on the glass that saw GW outrebound the Minutemen, 50-45.
As it goes in March though, surviving today means another game tomorrow, when the George Mason Patriots lie in wait. The third meeting of the schools this season tips at 2:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network with GW looking for revenge after the previous two meetings.
Team Stats
UMASS
GW
FG%
.359
.313
3FG%
.286
.235
FT%
.455
.667
RB
45
50
TO
16
12
STL
2
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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