A few days ago Karl Hobbs’ phone rang and on the other end was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. The College Basketball Invitational may not be a household name, but the postseason tournament gave the head coach a chance to extend his team’s season, to give seniors like Damian Hollis at least one more turn in their GW jerseys, to test his young team against one of the stronger mid-major programs left out of the NCAA tournament field.

So when the Colonials took the floor against Virginia Commonwealth University at the Smith Center Tuesday night, they had little to lose.

“We were excited about the challenge. We were excited about playing,” Hobbs said. “We were loose. You could see the enthusiasm from our guys. They played with no worries and we went out and tried to win a basketball game.”

Unfortunately for the Colonials, they didn’t do that. Despite a career-high 30 points and team-best eight rebounds from Hollis, a 16-6 run to open the second half, and substantial scoring advantages in the paint, off turnovers, and on second chances, GW had its season ended via a 79-73 defeat at the hands of VCU.

That the score was as close as it was is a testament to Hollis’ urgent farewell effort, the senior opening the game’s scoring with a three-pointer and accounting for 10 of his team’s first 19 points as the Colonials (16-15) tried to keep up with the Rams.

“I just saw a guy that was very determined, a guy that wanted to continue playing basketball, a guy that did everything to try to win this game,” Hobbs said. “I’m just extremely proud of the way he played and the way he handled himself tonight… I thought he gave everything he possibly had.”

Fourteen of Hollis’ 30 points game in what would become the final 5:05 of his collegiate career, a stretch during which GW went from trailing by 13 points to within two before time ran out on a last-ditch comeback bid.

Hollis made 12 of his 20 shots from the field, including three of seven three-pointers, and connected on all three of his free-throw attempts. He scored nine straight points during the game’s closing stages, twice halving VCU’s lead, from eight to four with consecutive jumpers and six to three with a single long-range bucket.

“I tried to give it everything I got. It was mainly for my teammates and my coaches. I do everything for them,” Hollis said. “I switched up my life basically for these guys and I try to give them 110-percent every time, whether it’s practice or games or whatever.”

That so much of Hollis’ effort came in an uphill battle to erase a deficit was the result of a barrage of first-half VCU three-pointers. The Rams took 18 treys in the first 20 minutes and sank 10 of them, accounting for two thirds of their 45 points before halftime.

Such opportunities came as a result of a GW zone defense designed to limit VCU big man Larry Sanders, a first-team all-conference selection that led the Rams in both scoring and rebounding this season.

“We were just so concerned about him and we talked about [guard Joey] Rodriguez, but we didn’t talk about the other guys – and we almost played like we never talked about the other guys,” Hobbs said. “But they did just a terrific job of making threes.”

The Colonials were able to limit VCU’s outside effectiveness after the break, holding it to 1-for-9 three-point shooting in the second half as they launched a pair of runs to bring the game back within reach.

Ultimately, however, the hole had been dug too deep for GW’s post-halftime resurgence to result in a win and a chance to play further into the 16-team tournament. Yet what it did accomplish was give what Hobbs called “immeasurable” postseason experience to GW’s underclassmen-heavy team.

Players like freshman Lasan Kromah – who tallied 18 points, five rebounds, and a game-high three steals – and sophomore Tony Taylor – who had eight points and eight assists – got to play under the pressures of a one-and-done tournament format, something Hobbs said he thinks will be important as the program moves forward and continues to rebuild.

“We think this is gonna be a momentum booster for us because now they’ve tasted it a little bit,” Hobbs said. “It’ll motivate them to work out. It’ll motivate them to dream the dream. And the ultimate dream for our program is winning the Atlantic 10 tournament and playing in the NCAA tournament. That’s our goal and that’s what we’ll be shooting for next year.”