11:21 p.m. Coley misses the second of two and fouls Hollis as he grabs the rebound, sending the junior forward to the line, where he hits both to ice things and give GW a 92-88 win. Check out tomorrow’s Hatchet and www.gwhatchet.com for more coverage.
11:17 p.m. Charlotte can’t make the second of their free throws after Witherspoon sends Wilderness to the line and Diggs gets fouled grabbing the board. He’ll go to the line with 6.9 left.
11:15 p.m. Hollis with the inbound play of the year, bouncing it off the butt of a Charlotte defender and grabbing the ball himself, ultimately setting up a Diggs dunk that puts the Colonials ahead 89-86 with 13 seconds left in overtime.
11:13 p.m. Leading 87-86, GW takes nine seconds to get the ball past halfcourt against Charlotte’s press and Hobbs uses his final timeout with 28.3 seconds to play and 21 ticks on the shot clock.
11:10 p.m. Charlotte’s Ian Andersen makes things interesting immediately, draining a three off a screen to cut things to 85-84. Taylor is fouled as he brings the ball up the court and makes both shots to put GW ahead 87-84 with 54 seconds to go.
11:10 p.m. Witherspoon htis one of two shots from the line and GW leads 85-81 with 1:11 to go in the overtime period.
11:05 p.m. Hollis with five points on two possessions and the crowd is chanting “Dam-i-an!” as GW leads 84-79 with 2:21 to play.
10:59 p.m. Charlotte airballs a runner attempt and King’s three-quarter-court heave isn’t chucked in time (and falls short) so we’re going to overtime here at Smith Center. Charlotte has already had Mack and Jones foul out. Diggs has four fouls and Hollis has three, so that will be something to keep an eye on.
10:56 p.m. Charlotte misses the front end of a one-and-one and Hollis is fouled going for a would-be game-tying dunk. He hits both shots and the game is tied with 21.8 to go.
10:54 p.m. Diggs hits a pair of free throws and the 49ers now lead just 79-77 with 35.7 on the clock.
10:50 p.m. A Hollis three from the corner cuts Charlotte’s lead to 78-75 with 45.4 to play, after which Hobbs uses his final timeout. That is a curious move.
10:46 p.m. GW can’t score on two straight possessions sandwiching a Phil Jones basket and they now trail 76-72 with just over a minute to play and the ball in Charlotte’s hands. Not looking good.
10:43 p.m. Diggs collects a seemingly endlessly bouncing loose ball to secure possession for GW, which trails 74-72 with 2:27 remaining. Hobbs has called timeout to talk things over on what will be a very important possession for the Colonials.
10:30 p.m. After playing just three minutes in the first half, Noel Wilmore’s second three of the last few minutes puts GW ahead 65-63 with a tick under eight minutes to play.
10:29 p.m. Just for the record, I don’t think there is a better name in the A-10 than An’Juan Wilderness.
10:23 p.m. And just like that, GW has regained a bit of control, leading 59-56 with 11:31 to play after Witherspoon hits a three and Katuka scores on one of his patented left-handed mini-hooks. Katuka was fouled on the play and made the free throw.
10:20 p.m. Back-to-back Charlotte threes from Coleman and Harris put the 49ers up 54-51 with 12:48 to play. GW has been giving Harris all the room in the world to shoot, an opportunity he had been declining until recently. He’s hit two threes. Against the Colonials last weekend, Harris didn’t score but racked up 15 assists and just one turnover.
10:15 p.m. A signature big Diggs dunk gets the crowd going, but Charlotte tempers the enthusiasm by responding with a three on the other end. GW is up 49-46 with 14:48 to play, with not much changing in either team’s performance since halftime. The Colonials have lost a couple of similarly tight games at home this year – to Dayton and Rhode Island, with the latter being in double overtime – so this is not new territory for them. Obviously they’re hoping for a new result.
10:10 p.m. Hobbs calls a relatively early timeout less than two-and-a-half minutes into the second period to talk things over. The Colonials lead 42-40, scoring on the half’s first possession when King stole a pass near midcourt, missed the initial layup, but scored on his second try with a failed Taylor tip attempt in between King’s efforts.
9:50 p.m. The Colonials take a 40-38 lead into the break after Diggs and Taylor combine for five points in the half’s final minute. Taylor had an impressive traditional three-point play, driving and scoring as he was fouled fairly hard by a much bigger player. Diggs was fouled going for an offensive rebound with 1.7 seconds on the clock and hit both free throws.
This game is completely up in the air, with GW matching Charlotte tit for tat for the half as a whole but showing defensive lapses that could cost them if they recur down the stretch. Diggs leads all scorers with 15 and Hollis is second with a relatively quiet nine.
9:46 p.m. After Wagner and Coley hook up for an alley-oop following Andersen’s free throws, Taylor responds with a three and Hollis hits two charity shots of his own to knot the score up at 35 with a little under 90 seconds left before the break. The Colonials are right in this and things are getting a bit chippy.
9:43 p.m. The officials are done with their review and are granting Andersen some stand-alone shots as Katuka’s foul was called intentional. Andersen hits both and it’s a 33-30 game.
9:41 p.m. GW is hanging around, now trailing 31-30 with 2:36 on the clock. Joseph Katuka was just whistled away from the ball for his third foul and the officials are reviewing something on a courtside TV monitor before Charlotte’s Ian Andersen takes his free throws.
9:33 p.m. Diggs hits a turnaround jumper and Witherspoon scoreswhile being fouled (but misses the free throw) to cut Charlotte’s lead to 30-27 with 4:42 left before the break. Hobbs and one of the officials were having an enthusiastic conversation moments ago that neither seemed to enjoy very much. Diggs has 13 points.
9:26 p.m. GW’s offense has put some points back on the board, but their perimeter defense is still letting the 49ers maintain their lead. Charlotte is up 25-20 after consecutive threes from RaShad Coleman and Mack. There’s 8:24 to play in the half.
9:19 p.m. The 49ers get a burst of scoring to go on a run that leaves them leading 17-13 with 11:21 to go before the break. They’ve been getting some open outside looks now, something they weren’t able to do early on.
9:13 p.m. The Colonials are enjoying an early 11-6 lead with 14 minutes left in the half, with Diggs already having eight points. While Charlotte’s post players set the tone the last time around, Diggs has been dominating the paint thus far. He’s been able to get position for a couple of lay-ins and on a more flashy note, scored on a fast-break alley-oop from Taylor. GW’s other three points came on a trey from Hollis.
9:07 p.m. Diggs starts things off nicely with a lay-in off the glass while Witherspoon picks up a strong block on the defensive end. Diggs’s scoring of his 1,000th career point last Thursday against St. Bonaventure was commemorated with the presentation of a commemorative basketball from Karl Hobbs and Jack Kvancz before the game.
Your starting Colinials: Travis King, Tony Taylor, Damian Hollis, Wynton Witherspoon and Rob Diggs.
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Good evening and welcome to another MASN-inspired 9 p.m. men’s basketball game, this one featuring a re-match with Charlotte. The 49ers “overwhelmed” GW on their home court last Saturday, beating the Colonials by 18 as big men Charlie Coley and Lamont Mack set the tone inside and point guard Dijuan Harris had 15 assists to six different teammates.
Tonight’s game, as with every one left on GW’s schedule, is essentially a must-win. If St. Bonaventure holds on at home against Saint Louis – the Bonnies currently lead by 13 with 17 minutes remaining – and the Colonials lose, it will mean GW is eliminated from the A-10 tournament with any additional loss or St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts each winning at least one more game. The Colonials’ margin for error is practically nonexistent at this point. A win would put them a game behind Charlotte for the tournament’s last spot with three games to play.
We still have roughly 40 minutes until the opening tip, but right now there are six people in the bleachers and 10 in the blue seats.
