Fordham coach Bob Hill walked toward GW coach Tom Penders 15 seconds before time ran out on the Colonials’ lopsided 92-76 victory Wednesday night, shook hands and stormed off the Smith Center court. He changed his clothes in the locker room and then began a post-game tirade about his team’s performance.
It was that bad for the visiting Rams, who fell behind Antxon Iturbe and the Colonials 19-4 nine minutes into the game and never recovered. It was that bad for Bevon Robin, who ran so hard into an Iturbe screen that he fell face-first onto the floor and proceeded to shoot an air-ball on Fordham’s next possession.
“The task at hand for me at Fordham is huge,” Hill said. “I told them at halftime that I’d never seen anything like that in 33 years of basketball. I’ve never seen a worse performance than that.”
Hill, who used to coach the NBA’s New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs, also voiced displeasure over his team’s inability to play under pressure. The Rams entered the game trailing GW by just one game in conference play. With a few expletives added in, Hill bashed his team repeatedly, in Bronx fashion.
“It’s Fordham history. They’re supposed to be down there (in the standings), they’re supposed to lose games like this,” Hill said. “They’re supposed to quit like that. That’s what they do and that’s what I’ve got to change.”
Given GW’s struggles this season, including a five-point loss to Fordham last month at Madison Square Garden, the Colonials had no problem welcoming a lackluster Rams performance in D.C. The win for the Colonials (12-14, 6-7 Atlantic 10) closes the gap for fifth place in conference play and an A-10 Tournament first-round bye to just one game. Dayton (16-10, 7-6 A-10) lost to No. 24 St. Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure (15-10, 6-7) fell to Xavier.
Massachusetts visits GW Saturday afternoon and will put the Colonials to the test – a test GW passed with certainty Wednesday night.
Chris Monroe scored 12 of his game-high 23 points from the foul line, but it was Iturbe and Mike King who set the tone for GW’s dominating win. The two seniors combined for 13 of GW’s first 19 points with Monroe on the bench. King had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the game while Iturbe added a season-high 11 points including his first career three-point field goal.
Iturbe showed his hustle when he stole a Fordham pass at half-court in the first half and drove in for a running left-handed layup.
“Iturbe was the big factor in that he took a few shots, moved without the basketball, made some layups when they doubled down off of him,” Penders said. “They obviously paid him no respect at all.”
GW took full advantage of Fordham’s first-half disappearing act to hold a double-digit lead for the final 33 minutes of the game. The Rams shot a dismal 26 percent in the first half and never came within 12 points at any point. The Colonials led 35-19 at halftime and led by as many as 20 points early in the second half when Albert Roma’s jumper extending the lead to 45-25 with less than 15 minutes to play.
The second half slowed with foul calls that went in GW’s favor. The Colonials visited the line 33 times, while Fordham went just 20 times. GW shot 27-for-42 overall from the line and shot 55 percent (30-for-55) from the field.
But it was Fordham’s shooting – 40 percent from the floor (28-for-69), 26 percent from three-point range (7-for-27) and 50 percent from the foul line (13-for-26) that did in the Rams throughout the night.
“I mean GW is no Duke,” Hill said. “They have a nice team. But we beat them in New York. We got beat to the ball and couldn’t get to the foul line. And we couldn’t make a shot.”
