Men’s basketball (17-10, 6-8 Atlantic 10) fell to Saint Joseph’s (16-10, 7-6 A-10) 79-68 on Wednesday, continuing the Revolutionaries’ three-game losing streak at home.
Redshirt junior forward Rafael Castro and SJU’s junior forward Rasheer Fleming tallied double-doubles in the match, with both New Jersey natives holding the first and second positions in double-doubles in the A-10, respectively. With Saint Joseph’s coming into action at 6-6 and the Revolutionaries at 6-7, a win for the Revs would have meant leapfrogging the Hawks in standings and moving them to fifth place, but Wednesday’s loss means the Revs now sit in a three-way tie for ninth place with St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts.
Castro led the Revs in the contest with 20 points and 11 rebounds, increasing his streak of 20-plus point games to three. Redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr. trailed his lead with 13 points, shooting 5-5 from the free throw line.
“We picked a bad night to have a bad night,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said. “With a great opportunity here at home, and that’s disappointing.”
The Revs began the game with three straight buckets from Castro, all of which were punched straight to the rim with thundering dunks. GW’s perimeter defense came alive in the first five minutes, forcing the Hawks to commit five turnovers compared to the Revs’ two.
A highly disputed foul call on sophomore guard Trey Autry slowed the Revs’ momentum, allowing SJU to take the lead with a dunk by SJU junior guard Derek Simpson.
The first half led to cold stretches for both teams, with neither scoring 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes on the clock, with SJU going 0-9 and the Revs 0-3.
Both teams fought tightly, with neither side gaining an edge. Freshman guard Ty Bevins then hit two consecutive 3-pointers to give the Revs a 1-point advantage, which was answered by SJU sophomore guard Xzayvier Brown, the leading scorer for the Hawks this season, from deep.
Bevins then hit a third straight 3-pointer to retake the lead at 31-29, answered by an 8-0 run by SJU to maintain their hold going into halftime 39-36.
In the second half, SJU held on to its point advantage early. The Hawks started hot from deep, shooting 4-5 from three in the first five minutes, with the Revs calling a quick timeout.
Graduate student guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr. set the path for Autry’s layup, with his second steal of the game to put the Revs one point behind the Hawks, but Fleming shot back with three straight 3-pointers.
Fleming led the SJU advantage in the second half as he soared ahead of the Hawks in 3-point shots and rebounds, drilling three from downtown and snatching five boards.
“When you throw in Fleming, who’s an NBA first-round pick, it’s a big key,” Caputo said. “Their defense is so much better.”
Both teams fought in a tug-of-war for ball possession as the Hawks capitalized on their height to swat the Revs’ layups. With five minutes left, GW’s 12-2 run proved minor assistance to their drift below Hawks 70-61.
Following a panicked possession by the Revs, with 10 missed shots and nine offensive rebounds, SJU rejected a layup attempt to end GW’s hopes of a comeback.
“I’m gonna put this one away tonight, and we’ll start thinking about UMass tomorrow,” Caputo said ahead of GW’s face-off against the Minuteman this weekend.
The Revs return to action on Saturday when they host UMass in the Smith Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
