ATLANTIC CITY, March 8-When GW’s men’s basketball players adopted “40 hard” as its team motto, they seemed like they meant it.

Excluding a brief stretch in the second half where they stuttered, the third-seeded Colonials played like men on a mission Thursday in the 58-48 win against Saint Joseph’s in the second-round of the Atlantic 10 tournament. GW never trailed during the quarterfinal matchup.

“We were focused for 40 minutes,” Hobbs said. “When Saint Joe’s made their run we didn’t panic.I’d like to think that this team is starting to mature a little bit.”

Perhaps it took a win-or-go home situation for the Colonials to box out every time the ball went in the air and fight for loose balls like it meant something. The fruit of the team’s labor came in the form of 21 forced turnovers and the Hawks shot just three for 21 from three-point territory (24.4 percent overall) for the game.

GW did not just play hard-it played mean. Players like senior Dokun Akingbade and sophomore Rob Diggs, who have been criticized at times this season for being pushed around, finished rebounds with swinging elbows.

“Those two guys, when they combine for points and rebounds, we normally have success,” Hobbs said. “I think they played a magnificent game.”

Diggs had 13 points, 11 in the first half, and continued his success coming off the bench.

“Diggs has a new energy coming off the bench,” Saint Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli said. “I’ve always been a Diggs fan, back to when I saw him in high school. I think he was a perfect get for GW. I think (Hobbs) recruits for the way he wants to play and they play with.a swagger.”

The teams were tied in rebounds, but that was a relative victory for the Colonials, who were out-rebounded by eight in the two team’s last game, Feb. 14 in Philadelphia.

Junior Maureece Rice led the team with 16 points on seven of 13 shooting, despite having to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Philadelphia Thursday morning (SEE NOTEBOOK).

The game was the first win for the Colonials in a game that they scored less than 60 points this season.

Next for GW is a semifinal game against St. Louis, who beat UMass 74-71 in overtime earlier in the day to advance. The two teams played once this year, a 63-53 win for Saint Louis Feb. 3.

Despite the fact that a loss would shorten his career, Elliott said the game will provide extra motivation.

“I think we’ll present match-up problems and our pressure will bother them a little,” Elliott said. “I think this is a revenge game for us, so we’ll definitely come out excited.”

var uslide_show_id = “eac7222f-a56f-4896-bcd0-c339fa8e1daf”;var slideshowwidth = “468”;var linktext = “”;