Even with sophomore T.J. Thompson’s career-high 26 points and nine assists, the GW men’s basketball team fell to cross-town rival American University Thursday, 81-75 for the team’s second loss in three games.

The loss is the Colonials’ first against the Eagles (5-6) in ten games between the two D.C. squads. American’s last victory over GW came in 1989.

The Colonials shot 57 percent from the field and led 40-35 at halftime, but American rallied for a comeback in the final minutes. Senior Chris Monroe (26 points) hit a lay-up with 1:20 remaining to give the Colonials a one-point lead but a Matej Cresnik three-pointer quickly made it GW’s last. Up 75-73, American tacked on six free throws including four straight in the final 11 seconds from guard Steven Miles (24 points on 8-for-14 shooting) for the 81-75 win.

Freshman Pops Mensah-Bonsu added 11 for the Colonials (6-5), but GW’s bench managed only two points. American’s Glenn Stokes equaled fellow guard Miles with 24 points.

The Eagles converted 18 GW turnovers into 25 points and turned the ball over 12 times themselves, leading to 14 GW points.

The Colonials kick off Atlantic 10 conference play Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia as they take on Temple at 2 p.m.

GW 68, Benghamton 64
Monday, Dec. 30

A Greg Collucci three-pointer with 4:25 remaining gave the GW men’s basketball team its first lead of the game, a lead the Colonials held the rest of the way for a 68-64 win at Binghamton University Monday night.

The Colonials were down 10 points at the half, 32-22, but scored the first eight points of the second half to narrow the deficit to two points. An Omar Williams one-handed dunk with just over five minutes remaining jumpstarted the Colonials game-winning 11-0 run. During the run, GW held Binghamton scoreless for over four minutes.

Freshman Pops Mensah-Bonsu led the Colonials (6-4) with 16 points. Senior Chris Monroe added 14, 12 of which came from the free throw line. Sophomore T.J. Thompson scored 11 points with five assists.

Anthony Green of Binghamton (4-5) had a game-high 20 points while Nick Billings added 11 with his nine rebounds.

The Colonials shot only 23 percent in the first half as Binghamton held GW to only seven field goals over the first 20 minutes of play. Meanwhile, the Bearcats shot a blistering 54 percent from the field.

GW’s comeback was due in large part to key free throws down the stretch, as the Colonials converted 25 of 32 shots from behind the line in the whistle-heavy game. The teams combined for 52 fouls and four players fouled out of the game.

Old Dominion 84, GW 76
Saturday, Dec. 28
A Ricardo Marsh alley-oop dunk put the final nail in the Colonials’ coffin Saturday, giving Old Dominion University a 13-point lead with six minutes remaining that GW could not overcome.

The Monarchs (3-5) shot 51 percent from the field and 91 percent from the free throw line as they knocked off the Colonials (5-4) 84-76 at the Smith Center.

Marsh led all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds.

Senior Chris Monroe led GW with 21 points and seven rebounds. TJ Thompson scored 17 points and dished out seven assists and freshman Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 13 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the field.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Monroe and Mike Hall cut Old Dominion’s lead to six, 68-62, with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. But the Monarchs answered with a 7-0 run of their own over the next minute to take a 13-point lead.

The Colonials wouldn’t come within five points of the Monarchs the rest of the way. Their best attempt was a three-point play by Thompson that cut the lead to 79-74 with just over a minute remaining in the game.

The Monarchs had built a comfortable 11-point lead early on, leading 41-30 at the half. The Colonials defense was unable to stop the hot shooting of Old Dominion which shot a scorching 55 percent in the first half, including 6-for-11 from international waters.

GW’s shooters did not respond, hitting just 38 percent of their shots in the first half, including 4-13 from the outside.

GW 70, Towson 60
Sunday Dec. 22

The GW men’s basketball team jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Towson and never looked back, beating the Tigers 70-60 Sunday afternoon in Towson, Md.

Chris Monroe had 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead the Colonials (5-3). Despite shooting less than 40 percent from the field, Monroe has scored 20 points or more in five of GW’s eight games this season. Freshman Mike Hall continued his strong play, notching his third double-double of the season (13 points, 12 rebounds).

Towson (3-5) was lead by Lawrence Hamm, who scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Back-to-back three-pointers by TJ Thompson (eight points, five assists) and Monroe capped an 8-0 Colonials run to give GW its biggest lead, 59-40, with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

The Colonials had maintained a sizeable lead throughout the second half even before the run as Towson was unable to get any closer than 14 points before the last 1:30 of the game.

Monroe scored two easy baskets on fast breaks to give GW the early advantage. The Tigers closed the gap to 14-11 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the first half before the Colonials went on another run.

The Colonials took a 23-11 lead midway through the first half and went into the locker room up 37-27 at halftime.

GW 56, BU 46
Wednesday, Dec. 11

The GW men’s basketball team gave up a combined 193 points in two losses last weekend, but reestablished its defense Wednesday in a win at Boston University.

GW (4-3) held the Terriers to no field goals for nearly eight minutes in the middle of the second half to take a 10-point lead, 56-46. Boston University was unable to cut the lead under eight the rest of the game.

A Pops Mensah-Bonsu put-back with eight minutes remaining capped a decisive 13-1 run that propelled the Colonials to a 68-55 victory.

Senior Chris Monroe led all scorers with 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field and 7-for-10 shooting from the free throw line. Junior Greg Collucci added 12 points off the bench.

Sophomore T.J. Thompson continued to shine in the backcourt, dishing out 10 assists. It was Thompson’s fourth double-digit assist game this season.

Billy Collins led Boston University with 19 points on seven-for-15 shooting to add to his 11 rebounds.

Boston University held a 35-28 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half before the Colonials exploded for 11 straight points to end the half up by four, 39-35. Monroe and freshman Mike Hall (10 rebounds) each hit a three-pointer during the run.

The Colonials’ run made up for the Terriers eight-point lead that they held just over ten minutes into the game, 27-19. BU, (3-4) rode the hot hand of Collins, who hit five-of-six three-pointers and scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half.

The Terriers only managed to shoot 30 percent during the game, including an abysmal 22 percent in the second half on 7-for-32 shooting.