Men’s basketball (4-0) defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology (0-5) 84-64 in Charles E. Smith Center Monday, extending their season-opening win streak to four for the second straight season in a row.
The game was the first meeting between GW and NJIT ever – Gerald Drumgoole Jr. being the only one on the roster to face the Highlanders in a previous matchup with the University at Albany Great Danes. Redshirt junior forward Rafael Castro led the fight with 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals – and redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr., delivered his second consecutive 20-point performance.
Coming into the game, Buchanan led the Atlantic 10 conference in rebounds per game with 10.67 but had four by the final buzzer.
“I felt like I was jinxed,” Buchanan said. “I’m going to get back to it on Friday for sure.”
GW opened the game with seven straight baskets with just under two minutes played, but the Highlanders responded with a 12-2 run to take the lead.
The hot shooting of the Highlanders, 41.7 percent from three in the first half, and gritty defense kept the Revs at bay midway through the half.
Buchanan was hit with a technical foul with under seven minutes left in the first half – the second of his career and his first of the season – following a foul call on defense.
“I was too concerned with the calls I wasn’t getting,” Buchanan Jr. said. “Coach was telling me to just calm down. Just play your game.”
Responding with an eight-point run to regain the lead at 22-19, the Revs took the first half by 10 after a gritty back-and-forth with NJIT.
GW led 44-34 at halftime and continued to go back and forth with the Highlanders, bringing the score to 63-55. Holding NJIT scoreless for seven minutes, the Revs padded their lead with a 15-0 run to lead with just over four minutes left in the game.
NJIT sophomore guard Tariq Francis led his team in scoring with 20 points but only shot 6/17 from the field. He also turned the ball over five times, while GW committed seven turnovers as a team.
“We got a little more aggressive with our coverage on Francis,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said. “I thought being more aggressive with him was good. I thought turning them over, getting deflections, things like that led to some good stuff. That stretch was the game.”
Although the Revs were ultimately victorious, they continued to struggle from the three-point line, posting a 3-point percentage of 28.6 for the game. Out of 364 Division I teams, The Revs rank 353rd in 3-point percentage this season, shooting just 25.0%.
“The team looks to improve this,” Caputo said. “28 percent is not good enough going forward. We have to make more of those.”
The Revs will face off against Kansas State in the U.S. Virgin Islands for their next game Friday.
