When men’s basketball and UMBC took the court for the second half, GW trailed by just four possessions. But an explosive 14-0 pounding within the first three minutes from UMBC buried the team into a 25-point hole that it couldn’t climb out of.
The Colonials (1-3) came within two points of the lead as the frame wore on, but the Retrievers (3-1) would never give up their advantage, taking the game 92–81. GW’s defense allowed UMBC to net 62.5 percent of its shots from the floor and go 10-of-21 from beyond the arc, which is the fourth time this season an opponent has scored 30 or more points from long range.
“We just need to do a better job defensively,” head coach Jamion Christian said. “All year long, we’ve been struggling with that. We can be better defensively. And we’re not setting the tempo that we need to. We’re not getting the stops that we need to. We’re not getting some of the easy rebounds that we need to finish high to get.”
Senior guard Maceo Jack was the bright spot for the Colonials. In 33 minutes off the bench, Jack exploded on the offensive end, going 7-for-7 from the floor for 17 points. His active hands on the defensive end led to a game-leading three steals.
“Our bench production hasn’t been at the level that we need it to be at this year so far, and we felt like with Maceo, he gives us that automatic punch off the bench,” Christian said. “Today he really responded that way, and it’s just great to see.”
Graduate student forward Matt Moyer, sophomore forward Jamison Battle and sophomore guard James Bishop also finished with double-digit scoring, and Bishop pushed out another 20-point performance – his fourth this season.
The squad fired at a .424 clip from the field and a .476 clip from three-point territory – its best shooting percentage from long range this season. The Colonials hit just 2-of-8 beyond the arc in the first frame but found its stride in the second half, going 8-for-13 from deep.
Bishop started the scoring from behind the arc, giving the Colonials an early 3–0 lead. But the advantage was short lived as junior guard L.J. Owens hit a triple of his own to even the score. Owens led UMBC with 20 points on the afternoon.
The Colonials and Retrievers traded buckets for the first nine minutes, and GW had a one-point lead before UMBC went on a 10-2 scoring swing. Battle quelled a run with his first triple in two games after riding an 0-of-10 scoreless streak from three-point land. He finished 4-of-8 from beyond the arc against the Retrievers.
Another 10-1 UMBC run gave the team a 13-point lead over the Colonials. A jumper from Bishop cut the deficit to 11 points, and then both squads fell into scoring slumps, going three minutes without a field goal.
Owens broke the silence with a triple, and sophomore forward Chase Paar responded with a layup down low on a dish from Moyer. The assist, which came 17 and a half minutes into the game, was GW’s first and only helper in the frame. The Colonials would go on to dish out 10 more assists in the second half, but UMBC notched 20 assists on the afternoon.
The Colonials went into the locker room down 43–32.
UMBC jumped out of the gate to start the second half with a 14-0 run. After the Retrievers rained down seven straight points, Christian called a timeout to regroup. But immediately after play resumed, sophomore guard Jameer Nelson Jr. turned the ball over, resulting in a UMBC steal and layup.
Now lagging behind 25 points, the Colonials implemented a full court press and began chipping away at the lead with an 8-0 tilt. An 18-5 scoring spree culminated by a banked shot from deep – GW’s second of the contest – whittled the lead down to eight points. Bishop, Battle and Jack carried the comeback, notching eight, five and five points, respectively.
In the final 78 seconds, GW played a high-pressure defense, pestering inbound plays and ball handlers. Nelson Jr. disrupted the UMBC passing lanes and Bishop collected the steal. A quick pass to Jack gave him an open lane to the hoop and a dunk to pull his team within five points.
On the next Retrievers possession, the pressure resumed with just under a minute on the clock. Moyer intercepted a pass, and Battle launched a ball from Bishop, swishing it through the rim and keeping the Colonials within striking distance of its first lead in nearly 32 minutes.
Battle’s electrifying triple would be the team’s final points of the contest. UMBC hit a layup, collected a defensive rebound and began charging for another layup on the offensive end. Nelson Jr. fouled senior forward Daniel Akin on the shot, and was also called for a technical foul, giving the Retrievers four free throw opportunities and the ball.
UMBC hit three of the four shots from the charity stripe and nailed two more shots from the free throw line on the next possession after a foul on Jack. Owens sealed the deal with a dunk, handing GW its third loss of the season 92–81.
“A major point of emphasis for us is finding how hard we can play – not leaving anything for chance,” Christian said. “That’s the journey of a young team, and they’re trying to figure that out.”
GW will be back on the hardwood Friday at Delaware. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
