Coming off a big conference win against VCU Tuesday, GW experienced a bit of a role reversal Saturday night when they took on St. Bonventure.

The Bonnies, like the Colonials on Tuesday night, were trying to protect their perfect 7-0 home record at the Reily Center, while boasting their largest crowd of the season: 5,160.

Fortunately for the Colonials, they were able to re-write the script, handing the Bonnies their first home loss and earning their first conference road win with a 79-71 victory.

The first half was not pretty for GW. After turning the ball over on their first two offensive possessions of the game, it was clear that the Colonials were not going to find easy baskets in the paint like they did against VCU. GW missed their first four field goal attempts of the game, and struggled to find an open look inside, as well. The Colonials would be outscored 14-8 in the paint, while the GW frontcourt duo of senior Isaiah Armwood and sophomore Kevin Larsen was held to just five first half points on a combined 1-5 shooting.

GW got a bit of help from the Bonnies when St. Bonaventure floor leader Charlon Kloof was called for two fouls within the first two minutes of the game. Having to sit out to foul trouble, Kloof wouldn’t re-enter the game until 10:50 to go in the first half. Coming into the game, Kloof ranked second in the conference in assists at 4.8 per game, but Kloof’s absence would greatly affect the Bonnies, who would finish the first half with just two assists.

“He’s so fast with the ball,” Lonergan said. “He just creates a lot of problems for us defensively with his foot speed.”

With Kloof absent, the Colonials were able to creep back into the game with their three-point shooting, something that had been missing for GW over their past couple of games. GW’s first two baskets would come off back-to-back made three’s from sophomore Kethan Savage and graduate student Maurice Creek. But the most important Colonial contribution of the half came from senior Nemanja Mikic, who in his first three minutes of play, scored eight points on two huge three-pointers.

GW would eventually cool off from the field, but despite shooting just 37 percent in the first half and committing nine turnovers, would only trail the Bonnies, 30-29.

In the second half, the Colonials were able to find that rhythm that had been missing on both ends of the floor. Strong performances from Larsen, Creek and Savage helped GW slowly pull away from St. Bonaventure and slowly silence a once-loud Bonnies student section.

“It’s a tough place to play, not going to lie to you,” Lonergan said. “You can’t really hear the coaching staff on the sideline, just a lot of energy. We feel very fortunate to leave here with a win.”

After going 1-3 in the first half, Larsen used a combination of easy buckets in transition and strong post moves to go 2-3 within the first few minutes of the second. Lonergan said after the game that Larsen may have been a bit pressured to perform after his career night on Tuesday, but was able to settle in in the second half of play.

“In the second half, he looked like the best player on the court,” Lonergan said. “When’s he’s scoring we are a totally different team.”

Larsen would finish the game with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Creek would also have a huge second half for GW, knocking down big shot after big shot for the Colonials. He would finish the game with 21 point, shooting 7-14 from the field and 5-8 from three-point range.

“Maurice has struggled particularly the last four games,” Lonergan said. “His numbers have really gone down. He definitely has a green light when he is open and was trying to run a screen and hope they would run below it.”

On the defensive end, the Colonials held the Bonnies to 36.3 percent shooting in the second half. Matthew Wright, St. Bonaventure’s leading scorer entering Saturday’s game, shot just 2-9 from the field, finishing with just six points.

“I thought we did a great job on the shooter for them, Wright,” Lonergan said. “Them going 7-26 from three and us going 9-19, I think that really was the big difference.”

GW will have a week off before they travel down the Orange Line to take on George Mason next Saturday.