The GW men’s basketball team has been winning games in bunches this season. Its latest winning streak reached seven games with victories at La Salle Thursday and St. Joseph’s Saturday.
The Colonials, ranked 22nd in the nation by the Associated Press, have not lost since a 31-point defeat in Massachusetts Jan. 10. GW improved its record to 20-3 overall and 9-1 in the Atlantic 10. In all, the Colonials have won 15 of their last 16 games and remain in first place in the Atlantic 10 West Division.
GW returns to the Smith Center Tuesday to play 21st-ranked Rhode Island. The Colonials have six games remaining before the A-10 Tournament, and they need five more wins to break the school record of 24 victories in a season, set by the 1954-’55 Colonials.
The only bad news for GW was that freshman Mike King sprained his ankle Thursday at La Salle. King did not play against St. Joe’s and is listed as day-to-day. King is walking without crutches and may play against Rhode Island Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.
GW 67, St. Joe’s 62
Yegor Mescheriakov scored 17 points, and Shawnta Rogers had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals to lead GW to its seventh-straight victory, a 67-62 win at St. Joe’s Saturday.
The Colonials led by 20 points midway through the second half and held off a furious rally by the Hawks (8-12, 1-9 A-10) to hold on for their first win at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse since 1991.
Mescheriakov had his best game since returning from an ankle injury two games ago. Mescheriakov made only six of his 16 shots, but hit several important baskets in the final minutes to help preserve the win. Mescheriakov and forward Antxon Iturbe (10 points, 7 rebounds) helped make up for King’s absence.
With nine minutes left in the game, the Colonials led 52-32. However, St. Joe’s then went on a 24-8 run. Senior guard Rashid Bey’s three-pointer with 1:30 remaining cut the GW lead to 60-56. Mescheriakov followed with a jump shot and two free throws to put the Colonials up by six points.
However, the Hawks came back again. Bey made a layup and after a GW turnover, forward Duval Simmonds made two free throws to pull the Hawks to within 64-62.
With 30 seconds remaining, Rogers was fouled and made two free throws. St. Joe’s reserve Frank Wilkins was then fouled, but missed both free throws to give the Colonials the ball back with a 66-62 lead and only 20 seconds left. Rogers made one more free throw to seal the win.
Bey led the Hawks with 17 points but was held scoreless in the first half. GW shot 61 percent in the first half and led 33-21 at halftime.
GW 82, La Salle 65
Shawnta Rogers led four Colonials with double-digit scoring figures as GW topped La Salle 82-65 at the Spectrum Thursday.
La Salle (7-13, 3-8 A-10) shot only 31 percent in the first half and trailed 41-22 at halftime. GW shot 53 percent for the game and never let the Explorers get close during the second half.
The Colonials were led by Rogers’ 13 points, while Yegor Mescheriakov, Alexander Koul and Mike King each had 12 points. King played 26 minutes, but sprained his ankle late in the second half and left the game.
La Salle made only 35 percent of its shots in the game and was out-rebounded 47-32. Donnie Carr and K’Zell Wesson were the only Explorers who shot more than 40 percent. Carr finished with 22 points, Wesson with 21.
Boxscores
GW 82, La Salle 65GW MIN FG REB PF PTSIturbe 28 4-6 6 3 8Mescheriakov 26 5-11 4 2 12Koul 35 3-5 6 3 12King 26 6-12 7 2 12Rogers 33 5-7 6 2 13Eyal 7 1-1 0 0 3Krivonos 12 2-4 1 4 4de Miranda 17 3-8 8 2 7Green 1 2-2 1 0 6Hazzard 5 1-1 1 0 5Camara 10 0-3 0 2 0TOTALS 200 32-60 47 20 82
La Salle MIN FG REB PF PTSWesson 37 9-16 11 4 21Gizzi 35 3-11 5 3 15Bragg 18 0-4 3 3 0Carr 40 7-17 2 4 22Smith 33 1-8 1 4 3Landgren 3 0-0 0 0 0Thomas 25 1-6 2 2 2Jordan 9 1-1 3 0 2TOTALS 200 22-63 32 20 65
GW 41 41 82La Salle 22 43 65
GW-Percentages: FG .533, FT .571. Three-point goals: 6-10 (Mescheriakov 1-1, Rogers 3-4, Eyal 1-1, Hazzard 1-1), .600. Blocked shots: 4 (Koul, de Miranda 2). Assists: 20 (Rogers 5). Turnovers: 17 (Mescheriakov 6). Steals: 5 (Mescheriakov 2).
La Salle-Percentages: FG .349, FT .762. Three-point goals: 5-24 (Gizzi 2-4, Carr 2-10, Smith 1-4), .208. Blocked shots: 5 (Wesson 3). Assists: 114 (Carr 7). Turnovers: 10 (Carr 4). Steals: 9 (Four with 2).
GW 67, St. Joe’s 62GW MIN FG REB PF PTSIturbe 30 5-6 7 2 10Mescheriakov 35 6-16 3 2 17Koul 32 3-8 6 4 8Camara 15 2-4 2 2 6Rogers 37 3-9 6 2 16Eyal 5 0-0 0 0 0Krivonos 24 0-0 2 3 2de Miranda 16 3-3 5 5 6Green 1 0-0 1 1 0Brade 4 0-0 0 0 2Hazzard 1 0-0 0 0 0TOTALS 200 22-46 35 21 67
St. Joe’s MIN FG REB PF PTSSimmonds 37 3-9 2 5 10Haskins 28 2-7 6 4 9Rasul 36 5-8 5 3 12Bey 40 6-15 4 2 17Woods 18 1-2 0 4 3Brown 17 1-5 0 0 2Wilkins 23 3-6 6 2 7Ikenokwalu 1 0-0 0 0 2TOTALS 200 21-52 26 22 62
GW 33 34 67St. Joe’s 21 41 62
GW-Percentages: FG .478, FT .655. Three-point goals: 4-8 (Mescheriakov 1-4, Camara 2-3, Rogers 1-1), .500. Blocked shots: 1 (Koul). Assists: 16 (Koul 4). Turnovers: 16 (Koul, Rogers 4). Steals: 5 (Rogers 4).
St. Joe’s-Percentages: FG .404, FT .737. Three-point goals: 6-20 (Simmonds 2-4, Haskins 1-2, Bey 3-8), .300. Blocked shots: 2 (Simmonds,
