Men’s basketball (18-10, 7-8 Atlantic 10) overcame Massachusetts (11-17, 6-9 A-10) 74-52 on Saturday, marking GW’s first win at home this month.
With both GW and UMass coming into action at 6-8 in the standings, the win puts the Revolutionaries in a tie for seventh in the A-10 conference and moves the Minutemen to 12th. GW’s leading scorers were redshirt freshman guard Christian Jones with 17 points and redshirt junior forward Rafael Castro with 13. Castro recorded his 12th double-double of the season, the most in the A-10 this season and tied for 14th in Division I.
“The guy’s a really good player,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said regarding Castro. “I wish I had him for more years.”
The Revs began the game with a baby hook from graduate student forward Sean Hansen, which was quickly answered by a UMass layup on the other end.
After a few back-and-forth possessions where neither team managed to gain an edge, sophomore guard Trey Autry fired an extremely contested 3-pointer over two defenders, hitting the shot and bringing the crowd to its feet. The Minutemen responded with a 3-pointer of their own, bringing the score to 9-8 UMass.
With a little more than five minutes played in the first half, four fouls were called on GW within the same possession. The unpopular fouls led to a cold streak by the Revs, lasting nearly five minutes. UMass senior guard Rahsool Diggins took advantage of the scoreless period to rack up 7 points on 3-5 shooting.
The Revs forced two straight steals off a trap by Castro, leading to a breakaway three by Jones. The Minutemen attempted to respond with their own three but were blocked by Castro, leading to a second consecutive 3-pointer by Jones.
The Revs used the momentum to go on an 8-0 run, forcing a swift UMass timeout. Following a quick foul on Castro, where he made one of two free throws, Autry swished a deep 3-pointer, making a 12-0 run for GW and forcing a second timeout by the Minutemen.
GW continued the onslaught following the timeout, returning to a 19-4 run with a graduate student guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr. three going into the final five minutes of the first half.
In the final seconds of the half, Jones sized up his opponent and shot a side-step 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, but it just barely bounced off the rim. The Revs lead the Minutemen 74-52 at the half.
The second half picked up right where the Revs left off. On the first possession, GW forced a backcourt violation and a turnover. After three scores from Castro, Hansen and Autry, the Revs returned to harassing the Minutemen’s ball-handlers, forcing a shot-clock violation on the next possession.
“I’ll just say those are energy plays, the energy is contagious,” Castro said. “We keep making high-energy plays and that just feeds off into everybody.”
The Revs continued to score at will, with a thunderous dunk by Castro and an Autry and-one fast break layup to build on the growing lead. GW went on an 11-2 run, interrupted by a UMass floater, bringing the score to 53-35 Revs.
In the final minutes of the game, redshirt sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr. punched a poster dunk into the rim off of an assist by Jones, securing the highlight of the night.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore guard Jacoi Hutchinson secured the lead for the Revs in the game’s final minute to allow the starters to watch the rest of the game from the bench.
“It also gives us a motivation to try to keep our foot on the opponent and beat them good,” Autry said. “We can get our friends in because they matter to this team just as much as we do.”
The Revs will travel to face Loyola Chicago (18-9, 9-5) on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
