The Colonials took the court against their first Italian opponents yesterday, netting a 93-67 victory over Primavera Mirandola, a program that was recently promoted to Nazionale A, the third tier of Italian basketball.

After the first quarter, GW was ahead 23-10, but the game wasn’t destined to be an easy victory. Primavera pulled within four off the strength of its long-range shooting and a cold Colonial offense, closing the gap to 44-40. But freshman forward Joe McDonald hit a pair of free throws to extend GW’s lead to six, followed by senior guard Bryan Bynes draining a long three at the half that gave the Colonials a 49-40 lead.

With the momentum squarely behind them, the Colonials entered the second half on a 19-4 run, sparked by McDonald, senior forward Isaiah Armwood, senior forward Dwayne Smith and freshman forward Kevin Larsen. The rest of play was easily in GW’s hands, with all 12 players scoring before the end of the game.

Armwood lead the team with 14 points and six rebounds, followed closely by McDonald, who stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists.

The Colonials next face Fortitudo Bologna, a stronger opponent that competes in Italy’s League 2, or Lega Due. You can see Bynes’ buzzer-beater from the team’s video feed below: