Once again the Colonials battled down to the wire, this time in pursuit of their first road win and their second Atlantic 10 victory of the season. And finally, after coming up just short so many times earlier this season, the final seconds went GW’s way.
Sophomore SirValiant Brown hit a fadeaway12-foot jump shot with five seconds remaining to give the Colonials a 77-75 win over Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center Tuesday night. Duquesne was able to get off a three-point attempt, but the ball hit the back rim and bounced away as the clock expired.
“We have made more comebacks than Dolly Parton, but we haven’t been able to finish many of them,” said GW coach Tom Penders according to Sports Information. “We’ve had huge deficits in a number of games, come back and not been able to sustain it. These kids never quit and this game was typical of it. Fortunately, we made a couple of big buckets down the stretch.”
It was a crazy final minute for the teams, with GW leading 75-72. GW committed three turnovers in 30 seconds, and Duquesne’s Wayne Smith capitalized by hitting a game-tying three-pointer with 33 seconds left. GW let the clock wind down before Brown nailed his game-winner from the left side of the foul line, right in front of the GW bench.
Chris Monroe scored eight of his career-high 28 points from the foul line and had a game-high 11 rebounds in the team’s third win since early December. Trailing 72-69 with less than four minutes left, Monroe and Mike King combined for six straight free-throws giving the Colonials a 75-72 lead with just over a minute remaining.
Brown posted 21 points for GW, which was coming off Tuesday’s two-point loss to Xavier at the Smith Center. The Colonials return to the Smith Center Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for a contest against St. Bonaventure.
NOTES: Jason Smith started for GW and scored four points (2-for-8) in 17 minutes. Tuesday’s game marked the seventh-straight game the Colonials were outscored by their opponents from the free-throw line.
