Men’s basketball (16-8, 5-6 Atlantic 10) defeated St. Bonaventure (17-8, 5-7 A-10) 62-52 on Sunday, with a 10-point run in the second half decisively turning the tide in the Revolutionaries’ favor.
Bouncing back from a home loss to George Mason on Wednesday, the Revs offense focused their efforts on driving to the basket and playing physical, cutting back on 3-pointers in the process. The Revs’s victory clinches a winning record in the regular season, the first in two years, and tops last year’s win total, which was 15.
GW’s leading scorer was redshirt junior forward Rafael Castro, who recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, working close to the basket with redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr., who added 12 points, with eight rebounds and three assists. Supporting Castro and Buchanan’s close-quarter plays was sophomore guard Trey Autry, who notched 15 points and seven rebounds, the majority of his points coming from 3-pointers.
An early 3-point jumper by Autry earned the team an early lead, which GW maintained all the way through the end of the first half. St. Bonaventure made efforts to recover this difference, but GW’s high free throw scoring rate stymied the Bonnies, which made sure the gap only increased from there.
The Revs were able to pull down several rebounds, often leading to multiple opportunities to score per play, straining the Bonnies’ defense. On the other hand, St. Bonaventure had trouble recovering the ball due to their reliance on 3-pointers. The end of the first half saw a back-and-forth struggle for the ball, with rapid turnovers that gave neither team room to score, ending with GW in the lead, 28-24.
The second half opened with the Bonnies seizing the lead with two jumpers, exchanging it several more times before settling at 39-35, with St. Bonaventure in the lead. GW then went on a 10-point run, with Castro proving especially valuable with a layup, a jumper and a dunk in less than five minutes.
St. Bonaventure attempted to retake the initiative, but with a strong blocking defense from GW and two 3-point jumpers from Autry, the Revs held a 56-47 lead with less than two minutes on the clock.
Attempts to close the gap in the last few minutes resulted in six free throws for the Revolutionaries, all of which were on point, a marked improvement from games earlier in the season, which saw missed free throws prove a decisive factor in GW’s defeats. With a few last-minute points from St. Bonaventure proving too little to make significant headway, the game ended with a score of 62-52 and a much-needed win for the Revolutionaries.
The Revs are set to host Virginia Commonwealth (19-5, 9-2 A-10) at the Charles E. Smith Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
