6:07 p.m. Towson’s Thurston forces a three with Bynes guarding him very closely and it falls short. GW secures the ball then pushes it up court to Ware, who converts a layup with one second left. GW wins 73-69. Check back more for full coverage and a post-game write-up.
6:05 p.m. Taylor dribbles all over the place once again, getting two screens from senior Hermann Opoku in the process, then pulls up with about eight seconds left on the shot clock to bury a jumper and give GW a 71-69 lead. Towson calls a timeout with 22.8 seconds to go.
6:03 p.m. Tie game after Thorton hits a three from the corner for Towson. GW calls a timeout with 50.6 seconds on the clock. This is the first time the Colonials haven’t been in the lead since early in the first half.
6:01 p.m. Taylor dribbles all around the perimeter wearing down the clock, then barrels through the lane and to the basket, missing the shot but getting fouled in the process with 1:24 to play. His first shot rims out and his second misses too. GW leads by three.
6:00 p.m. Lee falls down while shooting without really appearing to touch anybody, then King is whistled for the foul. Hobbs is pacing with anger. Lee goes to the line and makes one of two. It’s 69-66 GW with 1:48 left.
5:59 p.m. Taylor is fouled and heads to the line, where he hits both shots. It’s 69-65 GW with two minutes to go.
5:59 p.m. On the next possession, Polk hits a three and GW’s lead is down to 67-65.
5:58 p.m. Ware misses a layup and collides with two Towson defenders, sending the whole trio to the floor. Katuka is the only man left standing and puts in the rebound for two. GW leads 67-62 with 2:30 to play.
5:56 p.m. Nwankwo makes both free throws and it’s 65-62 GW approaching the three-minute mark.
5:55 p.m. During the timeout, the band plays the best version of the SportsCenter theme I’ve ever heard. It was heavy on the bass drumming and had extra quiet parts with crouching and big loud parts with dancing and it was fun.
5:53 p.m. That additional Towson point was apparently an error by the scorer, as it was removed from the board. Taylor hit a mid-range jumper to make it 65-60 GW, then Ware is called for another foul and we’ve got a timeout with 3:15 left.
5:52 p.m. Ware and Towson’s Lee get tangled up battling for position away from the ball and Ware is whistled for the foul, sending Lee to the line. He makes both shots and it’s 63-61 GW with four minutes left in the game. Towson got another point that I missed somewhere in there.
5:49 p.m. Towson hits a three and now GW leads by just three with six minutes left in the game. I couldn’t see who hit the shot from where I am sitting.
5:48 p.m. Johnson picks up his second foul and Towson’s Robert Nwankwo bricks both shots. There have been 30 seconds of basketball played in the last six minutes of real-world time. GW still leads 61-55.
5:42 p.m. Opoku’s third personal foul sends Towson’s RaShawn Polk to the line, where he makes one of two shots. GW already has 10 fouls this half, putting them in the double bonus. The Colonials lead 61-55 with 7:50 to play.
5:39 p.m. Kromah finds Johnson in transition for one of the most nonchalant, quietest alley-oops you’ll ever see (or read about). GW leads 61-51 with a little under nine minutes left.
5:35 p.m. Bynes banks a straightaway three, then King adds a layup in transition and GW leads 58-47 with 10:28 to go. I’m not sure if Bynes called the bank or not.
5:29 p.m. Calvin Lee hits a three from the corner for the Tigers and it’s 52-45 with 13 minutes on the clock.
5:27 p.m. Towson was assessed an intentional foul, sending Hollis to the line, where he hits both shots. GW leads 52-42.
5:25 p.m. The Colonials call a 30-second timeout and Hobbs is very unhappy as he discusses something with the officials. Not sure what it was, but it had Hobbs fairly fired up. There’s 13:47 left and it’s still 50-42 GW.
5:23 p.m. Johnson misses a one-handed dunk while being fouled, prompting Pellom to instruct him to use two hands next time. Johnson makes both free throws and the Colonials lead 50-42 with 14:31 to go.
5:18 p.m. Thornton threads a three, if that is such a thing, and Hollis puts back a miss by Opoku to make GW’s advantage 48-40 with a little over 15 minutes to play.
5:13 p.m. Towson band playing a very enjoyable rendition of the Killers’ “Somebody Told Me.” Don’t usually hear that from pep bands. If they bust out “Mr. Brightside,” I might forgive them for nearly deafening me.
5:11 p.m. On consecutive possessions, Kromah and Ware blow past Towson defenders on their way from the perimeter to the paint to convert layups. It’s 46-33 GW with 17:52 left in the game.
5:10 p.m. Taylor kicks off the second half with a three-pointer and GW leads 42-31, which I believe is the first double-digit lead of the game.
4:59 p.m. GW takes a 39-31 lead into the break, led in scoring by Johnson’s eight, Hollis’ seven, and Katuka’s six. Ware has a team-high four rebounds while Pellom, somewhat surprisingly, leads the Colonials with four assists.
The Colonials’ recent troubles defending the three have returned somewhat in this game, as they’ve allowed the Tigers to make five of 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Fortunately for GW, Towson has struggled with its free-throw shooting to the tune of making just four of 10; GW has converted 11 of 16 free throws.
GW appears to be somewhat in control so far, but considering that they have again allowed their opponents to shoot well from outside and that Towson’s lack of scoring is somewhat self-imposed (given their free-throw issues), the Colonials’ lead is not exactly safe – not that any eight-point halftime lead is safe when you’re on the road and feature five freshmen and two sophomores in your regular rotation. Boding well for the Colonials is that they didn’t seem to play particularly well in the game’s first 20 minutes, but still hold such a lead. There’s still a whole half of basketball to be played and we’ll be back with updates when it gets underway.
4:52 p.m. Towson’s Morris makes two free throws, equaling his team’s previous total from the first 19 minutes of play. They had made two of eight foul shots before that. It’s 39-31 GW with 35 seconds left in the half.
4:49 p.m. Points! Johnson hits two free throws and GW leads 35-29 with 1:49 left in the half.
4:47 p.m. It’s still 33-29 GW, now at the 2:17 mark. Just letting you know.
4:42 p.m. Smith misses a three from the corner, but then pins a shot against the backboard on the ensuing defensive possession. It’s still 33-29 Colonials during a break in the action with 3:37 to go before halftime. A trio of Towson students just took some half-court shots as part of a contest – for what prize, I’m unsure – and each got progressively closer with each attempt, but ultimately none of them made it.
4:41 p.m. Towson hits another three – its fifth of the game – and GW leads 33-29 with four minutes left in the first half.
4:37 p.m. Hollis has a potential defensive rebound bounce off his shoulder, leading to a Towson basket while being fouled; they miss the ensuing free throw, then Brewster grabs the rebound over Hollis and is fouled by him while shooting. Brewster misses the first but hits the second. Pellom replaces Hollis. GW leads 29-26 with 6:20 left in the half.
4:31 p.m. With a tick under eight minutes left in the first half, GW leads 27-23. The Tigers cut GW’s lead to just two points after hitting a second-chance three on a possession extended by a loose ball rolling their way, then Hollis hit another long two to keep GW ahead.
On another note that is unlikely to interest anyone, I am seated directly next to the Towson band’s percussion section and may be deaf in my right ear by midway through the second half.
4:28 p.m. Hobbs calls timeout with 9:55 left in the first half and his team holding a 25-20 lead, having allowed two straight scores and turning the ball over in between. This arena looks like a very nice high school gym, but I mean that as a compliment. It feels very homey and has a unique layout, with very gradual seats rising on each side of the floor and walkways behind each basket.
4:26 p.m. Brewster hits his second three of the game and Towson cut’s GW’s lead to six points at the 11-minute mark, but Kromah answers with a three of his own and the Colonials lead 25-16.
4:25 p.m. The Colonials hold a 22-13 lead during a timeout at the 11:34 mark, with their last basket coming from Katuka. He’s leading all scorers with six points thus far; King’s five points are second on GW.
4:22 p.m. King knocks down a three to make it 20-13 GW with about 12 minutes left in the first half.
4:21 p.m. Freshman David Pellom airballs a free throw and will likely be hearing it from the Towson band the rest of the afternoon. He hits the second and GW leads 17-13 at the 12:30 mark, then Taylor gets a steal to keep possession for the Colonials.
4:19 p.m. Freshman Tim Johnson scores two straight buckets to keep GW in front, but then is replaced by redshirt junior Travis King, who knocks down a long jumper to give GW a 16-13 lead at the 13-minute mark.
4:13 p.m. Freshman Bryan Bynes scores on a layup in transition and GW opens up its first lead, 8-6, with a little under 16 minutes left in the first half.
4:11 p.m. Hollis knocks down that long, just-inside-the-arc jumper he’s been hitting so regularly lately, then picks up a nasty block on the other end. Freshman Dwayne Smith is fouled while shooting on the other end and makes one of two. Fans are heckling Smith, who wears 00 on his jersey, for “not having a number.”
4:09 p.m. Hollis drives and puts up a lefty runner off the glass that misses, but he’s fouled. He knocks down the first free throw, but comes up short on the second. Towson leads 5-3 after a little more than three minutes.
4:07 p.m. Katuka hits a pair of free throws and GW is on the board, trailing 5-2.
4:04 p.m. Towson’s Brian Morris hits a three to open the game, then David Brewster adds a layup and Towson leads 5-0 after 48 seconds, prompting Hobbs to call a timeout.
4:02 p.m. The starting Colonials: sophomore Tony Taylor and freshman Lasan Kromah at guard, sophomore Aaron Ware and senior Damian Hollis at forward, and junior Joseph Katuka at center.
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Sorry for the slight delay in getting this up and running, but welcome to today’s live blog for the men’s basketball game at Towson’s Towson Center. The Tigers come into today’s game 2-4, heaving beaten UMBC and Miami (Ohio) at home, losing at home in overtime to Buffalo and in regulation to Hofstra, and dropping road games at Navy and Dayton. For comparison, GW romped UMBC at home and beat Navy at a neutral site (the Verizon Center); they’ll play Dayton later in the season during Atlantic 10 play.
The Colonials (6-2) are coming off an absolute barnburner of a loss against Providence Wednesday, one head coach Karl Hobbs walked away from feeling pretty good about. GW was torched by the Friars’ outside shooting in that game (they shot 16-for-29) and also struggled to defend Navy’s Chris Harris (who hit seven of 14 threes) Sunday, so the fact that the Tigers boast four players that shoot more than 35 percent on three-pointers could be troubling. One of those players, senior guard Josh Thornton, is shooting 44 percent so far this season.
Also, a note of interest: when leaving the court, freshman David Pellom leaped over the corner of the table I’m sitting at in an impressive and somewhat starting display of athleticism.
We’re inside of five minutes until game time, so we’ll be back with starting lineups and more updates before and during the game.
