By Greg Shapiro

Contributions by the veteran and two freshmen are the story once again for the George Washington Colonials (6-1) who have their first win at the BB&T Classic in three years as they defeat the Navy Midshipmen (4-5) 81-69.  Coming off a career-high tying 25 points at the Smith Center against George Mason on Wednesday night, senior Damian Hollis picked up where he left off with a team-high 18 points on 50% shooting from the field.  Though Lasan Kromah picked up his 4th foul with 12 minutes to play in the game, he played controlled basketball throughout the duration of the game to score 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting.  Free throw shooting throughout the game and down the stretch played a crucial role as the team shot 16 of 20 from the line.  As a team, GW shot just under 47% from the field and just 31% from beyond the arc on 5 of 16 shooting.

Though Chris Harris, whose 20 points per game leads the Patriot League, had his points scoring 26 points, including 7 3-pointers, GW’s perimeter defense did an excellent job checking the rest of Navy’s shooters holding the rest of the team to just 5 of 21 shooting from 3-point land.  The key was Coach Hobbs changing the defense from a man-to-man to a 2-3 zone/half court trap with about 9 minutes to play in the first half.  GW’s pressure forced Navy out of their comfort zone offensively posting 11 steals and 4 blocks to force 21 Navy turnovers.  Navy shot just 38.6% from the field.

GW’s 6-1 start is the best since its 2006-07 campaign in which the Colonials were Atlantic 10 champions and advanced to the NCAA tournament.  The team that broke its 6-1 start that year was Providence who dismantled the Colonials 86-67 at the Dunkin Donuts Center.   GW will have a chance for revenge as the Friars (5-3) return the favor and will go to the Smith Center for the first time this Wednesday night.  As always, WRGW will have all the coverage starting at 6:40 for a pre-game show.  Scott Trocchia and Nick Provazza will be calling the action while Bryan Albin and Ben Topiel will be producing from the WRGW studios.  The next WRGW broadcast will be this Tuesday night against as the women’s team who look to end their 4-game skid at home against the Marshall Thundering Herd.  Be sure to check back here for the game preview and tune in for all the action starting at 6:40.

The much hyped “Battle of The Orange Line” turned out to be a huge success for the Colonial basketball team.  Led by a career high 25 points by senior Damian Hollis and a fired up Smith Center crowd, the George Washington Colonials beat the George Mason Patriots 66-49 and improved its record to 5 and 1 on the season.  Following a disappointing loss to Oregon State on Saturday, the Colonials scored the first 5 points and never lost the lead throughout the course of the game as they cleared dominated George Mason in all facets of the game.

The Patriots were led by freshman Luke Hancock who scored a game high 15 point points for the Patriots, but the team was devastated by a first half injury to junior point Cam Long, who did not perform well after the injury.  In addition, forward Mark Morrison was plagued by foul trouble and only managed to play 17 minutes of the game.  The Patriots only managed to shoot 36 percent from the field and were out rebounded 43 to 30 by the Colonials

The Patriots only trailed 35-27 at the half, but the Colonials opened the half with a 22-4 run and led by as much as 26 in the course of the game.  The Colonials got a dominating performance by senior forward Damian Hollis who scored a career high 25 points and pulled down 8 rebounds as well.  Also chipping in for GW was Lasan Kromah with 8 points and Joesph Katuka who scored 7 points in only 8 minutes of play.  Senior Hermann Opoku also pulled down 8 rebounds while Kromah and freshman guard Bryan Bynes grabbed 3 steals a a piece.

On the season, the Colonials improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the newly renovated Charles E. Smith Center.   George Washing got a clear home court advantage tonight as a fired up crowd led by the Colonial Army provided the team with the energy and support needed to ensure the victory.  The Colonial will next take on the Midshipmen of Navy at the Verizon Center in the BB&T Classic.  As always, you can hear the game live by tuning into WRGW at www.gwradio.com

After three hard years of work at WRGW, Greg Shapiro and Julian Gompertz had their story published in the popular College Magazine. Read here.

Former GW star, Pops Mensah Bonsu, was signed by the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, February 25 to a 10-day contract.  Pops has been on a tear in the NBA D League, averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds per game for the Austin Toros.  In one minute of action in his first game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Pops pulled down a rebound in a minute of action.  The Spurs may sign Pops to one more 10-day contract before they have to either sign him to a full contract or release him.

Listen here to his interview on WRGW’s Fast Break or read the story here.

Good news.  The server is back up and we are back to normal sports programming. Keep it here for all things GW Sports and make sure to tune in for every basketball broadcast as well as from 4-6 PM to hear sports talk five days a week.

As of January 21, the server hosting WRGW’s Internet stream is down and therfore programming cannot be heard on iTunes or any of the other audio options.  For live GW radio, watch campus cable channel 22.  This includes tonight’s women’s game against Villanova from the Smith Center set to tip at 8, beginning with a 7:40 pre-game.  Adam Rosenbloom and Alex Tainsh will have the call.  Please check back for updates as the stream is repaired.  Thank you for your patience.

After a long layover, GW (4-3) hits the hardwood against Troy smack in the middle of finals week. In their last outing GW played 7th ranked Tennessee tough, the colonials came within a bucket of tying the game, but the Lady Vols went on a 15-5 run to ultimately seal the deal. GW is in the midst of a seven game homestand, the longest in program history, which couldn’t come any sooner after GW dropped a pair of games on the road in Kentucky. In spite of the Tennessee loss, freshman Tara Booker is leading the nation in three point shooting knocking down over 65% of her treys, she is 16-26 on the year. Booker has consistently connects from three point range even though many of her shots are contested. 

Seven games into the season, GW has 11 players averaging ten minutes or more. Also, GW is shooting 38% from three point range as a team collectively and holding their opponents to 35% from the field. Antelia Parish continues to be a one woman wrecking crew as she leads the Colonials in points (12.4/game), rebounds (6.7/game), and assists (20 total). Preseason Wooden Award candidate Jessica Adair is second on GW averaging 11.9 points per game.

Troy:

This Sun Belt Conference program snapped a three game losing streak with a win over Spring Hill College, an NAIA school in Alabama. GW is certainly a step up in difficulty. Preseason 3rd team Sun Belt selection Kylie Morrissy leads Troy in scoring at 15.1 points per contest, she dropped 25 against Spring Hill. Troy is coached  by seventh year Man Michael Murphy. The trojans, not the most surprising nickname, average just a hair over 60 points per game, but allow only 58.9.

The Colonials (3-2) are looking to rebound after a stinging 76-53 blowout loss to Maryland in the BB&T. Harvard is looking to for their fifth win after a double overtime loss at home to Northeastern. They were down by seven with a minute to go and managed to tie the ballgame. This is the first ever meeting between GW and Harvard, but both teams happen to have a common opponent this early in the year. Harvard lost at home to Boston university 75-59 while GW beat the Terriers in extra time at Boston. This is an important game to help get GW back on track.

The emergence of Herman Opoku:

Opoku, after riding the pine for most of his first his first two years in Foggy Bottom has emerged as a steady presence on the interior for GW. The 6-10 junior from Austria is averaging a modest 14 minutes and six points per game, but is helping the undersized Rob Diggs establish GW down low. He had seven points against Maryland and had some good tough offensive rebounds especially in the early going. 

GW’s has three scorers averaging in double figures thus far in their ‘08 ‘09 campaign, with the high man Damian Hollis averaging just a shade over 11 points to lead the team. Noel Wilmore and Rob Diggs are the other two. Freshman guard Tony Taylor is fourth in scoring with just over 9 points per game, but leads GW in minutes with 32.2 per game. An interesting note from the BB&T is the distribution of minutes. Herman Opoku logged 23 while Hollis played for only 16. GW in fact used a 10 man rotation against the Terps, as 10 players played for 10 minutes or more. GW has a lot of bodies they can throw out there, the key is finding effective combinations.

GW’s achilles heels of late have been defense and free throw shooting. Harvard is shooting 75% collectively, GW is a shade under 60%. Defensively GW has had issues guarding the three pointer. Maryland’s Eric Hayes hit a trio of triples in the early going of the first half at the Verizon Center and Maryland never looked back. Maryland shot 9-19 from beyond the arc for the game. GW also allowed 45 points in the first half, as well as 54 points in the second half against Auburn.

A closer at Harvard:

Harvard has and experienced starting lineup led by junior guard Jeremy Lin, averaging 20.1 points per game. He is joined in the back court by senior guard Drew Housmann. Harvard was picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League this season. After Lin, the only other double figure scorer is freshman Keith Wright, a forward who is the only other underclassmen in the starting lineup for the Crimson.

Despite some runs of hot shooting by the Crimson, the Colonials remained in control throughout most of the game and came away with a 79-63 victory at home.  This was just what the doctor ordered for a GW team that is coming off a blow-out loss to Maryland at the Verizon Center and has just one more home game before 4 games on the road (Sacramento State, 3-game Rainbow Classic in Hawaii).  The Colonials will face local rival, American University, at the Smith Center on Wednesday night.  Check back for game notes.

After a 10 day layoff (their longest of the season), the Colonials (3-1) will take the court against the Maryland Terrapins (5-2) in the second game of the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center on Sunday night at 7:30.  This is the 67th meeting between the teams and the ninth meeting at the BB&T Classic.  Here are some game notes.

Maryland leads the all-time series against GW 35-31…The all-time series at the BB&T is split 4-4 between the teams but GW has a 4-2 edge in games played at the Verizon/MCI Center…While GW has been idle for 10 days following their 70-64 win against UMBC on Nov 26, Maryland has played four games in a difficult stretch that has included an 80-62 win against #5 Michigan State in the first round of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando…The Terrapins then dropped their next two games in the tournament losing to #9 Gonzaga and #16 Georgetown…Maryland is a perfect 4-0 at home…The Terrapins are 13-9 all-time at the BB&T Classic…The Terrapins have made the post-season for the past 15 seasons and 7 sweet sixteens in the past 15 years…6-6 Junior Guard Greivis Vasquez leads the team in 11 categories including minutes (33), field goals (43), field goal attempts (101), 3-point field goals (10), 3-point field goal attempts (36), free throws (29), free throw attempts (33), rebounds (6.1 per game), assists (4.9 per game), steals (2 per game), and points (17.9 per game)…Maryland has the third best record in the ACC over the last 10 years behind North Carolina and Duke…The Terrapins lead the ACC in team free throw percentage at 79.6% while the Colonials are last in the Atlantic 10 at 60%.

The game is set to tip at 7:30 from the Verizon Center.  Listen here to Jordan Teller and Dave Earl’s call on WRGW starting with the pre-game show at 7:10.  Listen here to the broadcast on Federal News Radio with George Wallace and myself, Greg Shapiro.  Check back for news and results later.

Among other factors, the long 10-day layoff seemed to leave the Colonials offense completely stagnant while Maryland’s accurate shooting all night led them to a 76-53 victory at the Verizon Center.  The team now has another 6-day layoff before playing Harvard at the Smith Center on December 13.

The Thanksiving Classic was just what the doctor ordered for a Colonials (4-2) team that lost two straight on their Kentucky trip.  They will need to use that momentum to their advantage tonight as they face their toughest test at home this season against the two-time defending National Champion, #7/12 Tennessee Lady Volunteers (5-1).  The Smith Center is expecting a rambunctious crowd hosting a Tennessee team that is notorious for bringing with them thousands of fans from Knoxville.  The following are some game notes for tonight’s matchup.

The Colonials are 0-8 in the all-time series against the Lady Vols…In their last meeting, #6/5 Tennessee defeated #21/19 George Washington 85-62 in Knoxville on December 7, 2006…Tennessee’s roster features just one senior (Alex Fuller F-C, 5.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg), no juniors, four sophomores, and seven freshmen…GW has won 32 of their last 33 home games (the loss coming a little over a year ago to Rutgers) and 132 of their last 137…The Lady Vols outround their opponents by over 10 per game this season and force over 20 turnovers per game…GW committed a season-high 26 turnovers against South Alabama in the first game of the Thanksgiving Classic on Friday night…Tennessee’s only road game so far this season was a 66-63 win against Chattanooga.

The game is set to tip from the Smith Center at 7:30 p.m.  All the action can be heard live on WRGW starting at 7:10 with Adam Rosenbloom and Stu Grimes’s pre-game show.  Julian Gompertz and myself, Greg Shapiro, will have the call for you.  Check back for final scores and analysis.

Despite a valiant effort by the Colonials, they could not hold off the Lady Vols as Tennessee wins 71-59.  Following a missed lay-up by Jazmine Adair to tie the game with just under 5 minutes to play, the Lady Vols closed on a 15-5 run to win the game.  It was good to see this young Colonials team step up in their biggest home test of the season.  They now have a 14 day layoff for finals before playing Troy at home on December 16.