After his team’s win against Fordham Saturday, head coach Mike Lonergan was still pessimistic about his team’s chances of earning a four seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
“Everytime I watch, nobody helps us out. So I don’t know if I’ll watch or not,” Lonergan said.
On Sunday, Lonergan got all the help that GW could ask for. An early afternoon loss by Massachusetts to Saint Louis in the final seconds gave the Colonials a better outright conference record. As a top-four seed, GW earned a coveted double bye and will not play its first game until the quarterfinals Friday.
But GW’s movement didn’t end there. Later in the day, Saint Joseph’s fell to La Salle, boosting the Colonials to the three seed after a tiebreaker scenario favored GW. The Colonials got the advantage thanks to their 76-71 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Mar. 5 at the Smith Center.
As the No. 3 seed in the tournament, GW will play their opening round game Friday at 9 p.m. against either No. 6 seeded UMass or No. 11 Rhode Island, who battle Thursday.
GW last played URI on Jan 11. at the Smith Center, with the Colonials defeating the Rams 69-56. The Colonials won the game thanks in part to a huge first half, taking a 24-point lead into halftime. Since that January meeting, the Rams closed out the rest of conference play with a 5-9 record, beating Richmond, Dayton and St. Bonaventure.
UMass was able to accomplish what no other team could against GW this season, handing the Colonials their first and only home loss of the season Feb. 15, 67-61. After trailing by as many as 11 points, the Colonials fought back to tie the game at 59, but were unable to overtake the Minutemen in the final minutes. UMass finished conference play 3-1, including a five-point win over VCU.
If GW faces UMass in the first round it will be the second-consecutive year that the Colonials play the Minutemen in the their conference-tournament opener. As an eleventh seed last season, GW lost to sixth-seeded UMass, 77-72, in the tournament’s opening round.
The A-10 tournament opens on Wednesday, March 12, and runs through Sunday, March 16, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
