Men’s basketball (15-6, 4-5 Atlantic-10) fell to La Salle (12-10, 4-5 A-10) 73-67 in Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, handing the Revolutionaries their third-straight loss on the road.
The Revs managed to make some noise within the conference, having won two straight against Saint Louis and Richmond but still struggling to get over the .500 mark in conference play. Graduate student guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr. led all scorers with 19 points, 13 of which came before halftime, going four of 11 from three.
Another 11 points came from fellow graduate student forward Sean Hansen. The Revs continue to shoot poorly from behind the arc, going 8-26 and La Salle also struggled from three, going 6-20. The Explorers dominated the boards, outrebounding the Revs 41-31.
GW led with under three minutes to go, but La Salle managed to pull away thanks to a timely 3-pointer from graduate student guard Corey McKeithan. The Explorers got another 19 from freshman guard Deuce Jones, which GW could not recover from.
The Revs got out to a quick 14-6 lead before the Explorers went on a 9-0 run on the back of McKeithan. GW answered with an 8-0 run of their own starting with sophomore guard Trey Autry’s 3-pointer, breaking a three-minute streak without a bucket and giving the Revs some momentum down the stretch of the first half.
Buckets from McKeithan and graduate student guard and forward Jahlil White brought the Explorers back to even with the first half ending all knotted up at 35-35.
Hansen kicked off the scoring in the second half with his fourth-straight field goal to put the Revs up 37-35.
Back-to-back dunks from redshirt junior forward Rafael Castro and a three from redshirt junior guard Trey Moss, breaking a streak of over 11 minutes without a 3-pointer, put the Revs up 53-49 with 11:46 remaining in the half.
GW tried to pull away but couldn’t shake the Explorers, as a three from McKeithan and a four-point play from Jones kept them within two points of the Revolutionary lead with 6:19 left in the frame.
Drumgoole converted a 3-point-play with 4:01 left, cutting into La Salle’s 19-5 run that they ended the game on, but redshirt freshman guard Christian Jones’ layup with 2:33 left was the last time the Revs had a lead.
Clutch free throws from senior guard Daeshawn Shepard and a dagger three from McKeithan with 1:30 left put La Salle up by four points.
It was another quiet night for redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr., who, in 28 minutes, was four of six from the field for eight points. The Washington, D.C. native came off the bench for the sixth-straight game since returning from injury, with his most recent start coming in the Revs’ loss 66-61 to Richmond in the first game of A-10 play.
The Revolutionaries continue to struggle to close out games throughout conference play, having held the lead for most of the second half but unable to maintain it. With this loss, they drop to 15-7 overall but 4-5 in A-10 play, putting them in ninth place at the beginning of the toughest stretch of their schedule.
Men’s basketball looks to bounce back at home against A-10 leaders George Mason (17-5, 8-1) at the Charles E. Smith Center on Wednesday, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
