Another game, another career-high score for freshman Mike King.
King led all scorers with 22 points as the GW men’s basketball team snapped Dayton’s seven-game winning streak with an 81-61 win at the Smith Center Sunday.
King, who scored a career-high 16 points in GW’s dramatic win over Xavier four days earlier, made his first career start in his fourth collegiate game.
“He is certainly a guy who is a momentum player,” Dayton Coach Oliver Purnell said. “You give him a couple of baskets and he turns into Superman.”
GW Coach Mike Jarvis said he is not surprised by King’s play. The freshman has been named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week.
“I give all the credit to the players. They made it possible for Mike to come and fit in,” Jarvis said. “They could have been selfish and we could have had a chemistry problem, which we don’t.”
GW (15-3, 4-1 A-10) played without leading scorer Yegor Mescheriakov, who sat out with a sprained right ankle, which he suffered Wednesday against Xavier after scoring his 1000th career point. The junior forward is listed as day-to-day and may play Thursday at Fordham.
Even without Mescheriakov, the Colonials controlled the game from the start. Dayton (12-5, 4-1 A-10) did not make a field goal in the game’s first five minutes as GW built a 10-1 lead. Dayton shot 33 percent in the first half and 37 percent for the game. GW never trailed and led 35-24 at halftime.
The Flyers’ leading scorer this season, Ryan Perryman, did not make a field goal the entire game and was held to three points. Dayton never trailed by less than 11 points in the second half.
“Our two starting post players were taken out of the game by the physical play,” Purnell said. “We shot much too quickly when the ball went into the post. They were very aggressive, particularly on defense. We didn’t react and it took us out of things offensively.”
Dayton entered the game in first place in the A-10 West Division and had won 10 of 11 games. Forward Coby Turner led Dayton with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Guard Shawnta Rogers had 14 points and 10 assists, and center Alexander Koul added 15 points for GW, which took over first place in the West Division with the win. In just 18 games this season, the Colonials have equaled their win total from all of last year.
