Men’s basketball entered its matchup with Fordham riding a two-game win streak, while Fordham showed up after five straight Atlantic 10 losses. But sharp three-point shooting and a strong performance from sophomore guard Jalen Cobb lifted Fordham over GW.
The Colonials (8-11, 2-4 A-10) snapped their win streak Wednesday against the Rams (7-11, 1-5 A-10) in a 59–54 contest. GW struggled to sink shots from three-point range, going 5-of-28 and finishing below its 32.4 percent season-average.
Fordham heated up from deep early in the game and finished the night shooting 45 percent, up from its season average of 32.5 percent. Cobb, who netted 22 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, led the effort.
Head coach Jamion Christian declined to comment through an athletic department spokesperson.
Redshirt senior guard Armel Potter led the charge for the Colonials with 15 points, eight of which came from the charity stripe. Junior guard Maceo Jack also landed in double-digits, sinking three triples and a shot from the floor.
The Colonials struck first with a layup from freshman forward Jamison Battle, and they held the Rams scoreless for nearly two minutes. A pair of triples placed Fordham on the board and boosted it to a four-point lead. A quick response from Potter in the paint cut the lead to two, but the Rams answered back with a jumper.
GW and Fordham traded buckets until two free throws from Potter chopped Fordham’s lead to one midway through the frame. But Cobb’s second triple of the game jumpstarted a 13-0 run that left GW with a 14-point deficit with less than four minutes on the clock.
Freshman guard Jameer Nelson Jr. stunted the run with a layup and two free throws. Sophomore guard Amir Harris added to the score, picking off a pass on defense and slamming it in the hoop to bring the deficit down to single digits. But a shooting foul on Cobb’s three-point attempt sent him to the line, where he hit each bucket.
A put-back dunk from freshman forward Chase Paar sealed the half, and the Colonials trailed the Rams by nine points with 20 minutes left to play.
Senior forward Arnaldo Toro checked in for the first time in two games to start the second half. The big man grabbed five rebounds and contributed three points in six minutes of action.
The Colonials opened the second half on a four-point run and kept Fordham scoreless for nearly four minutes. Sophomore guard Ty Perry nailed a layup and was fouled on the play. He sunk the free throw to complete the three-point play and remedy his squad’s scoring drought.
With 11 minutes to play, Jack picked Perry’s pocket and went coast-to-coast to net the layup. He interrupted Fordham’s passing lanes and nabbed a team-leading four steals. The squad’s active hands earned it 11 steals, more than double its season average of 5.2 steals per game.
A triple from Jack brought the Colonials within two possessions, and buckets from Potter and Paar kept the Colonials within one possession for two minutes. A three from Perry and five points down the stretch from sophomore forward Onyi Eyisi built the lead back up to 11.
With less than a minute to play, Potter sunk his first and only three and nailed a free throw to cut the deficit to six points. At the 30 second mark, the Colonials fouled junior forward Ivan Raut, who missed both attempts from the line.
GW marched down the court and Potter fired a pass to Battle, who sunk his first triple of the night. He had been quiet since opening the contest, finishing the game with five points on 1-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and 2-of-12 shooting from the field.
Down by three points, the Colonials sent Raut to the line again. The big man, who shoots at a .652 clip from the free-throw line, missed his first attempt but hit his second. Another Fordham free throw sealed the game, and GW dropped its fourth conference game by five points.
The Colonials return to the Smith Center Saturday to take on Saint Joseph’s. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
