Men’s basketball allowed George Mason to shoot 55.2 percent from the field and grab nine more rebounds Sunday, but was able to overcome its defensive struggles by limiting themselves to a season-low five giveaways to go along with five blocks and eight steals.
The Colonials scored 15 more points off turnovers than the Patriots, who coughed it up 14 times.
“Definitely the turnovers [were the deciding factor],” graduate student forward Tyler Cavanaugh said. “They gave us extra possessions and we limited that because we didn’t play very good defense.”
The Colonials (16-13. 8-8 A-10) also rode a smooth offense all afternoon, shooting 48.4 percent from the field and assisting on 17 baskets, en route to an 83–74 win and a season sweep of the Patriots (18-11, 8-8 A-10).
The victory was GW’s third straight and moved the team to .500 in Atlantic 10 play. The Colonials are now tied for sixth in the conference with George Mason and La Salle.
“We’re playing well, obviously defensively we weren’t very good today but we’re trending upward,” interim head coach Maurice Joseph said. “We’re sharp offensively, we’re running our stuff to the tee, we’re sharing the ball. I’m really happy that our guys are starting to gel over these last three or four games.”
Cavanaugh led GW during the matchup with 22 points and seven rebounds on 47.1 percent shooting – good for his 12th 20-point outing this season.
Redshirt junior guard Jaren Sina (16p) and junior guard Yuta Watanabe (18p) also found the basket, combing for 34 points and four three-pointers.
After a below-average first half from distance, the Colonials found their three-point rhythm in the hands of redshirt senior Matt Hart (11p). He went 3-for-3 from behind the arc, sparking a run of six straight possessions where GW scored and brought the lead to double-digits for the first time in the game with four minutes remaining.
[gwh_image id=”1026500″ credit=”Ethan Stoler | Hatchet Photographer” align=”right” size=”1026500″]Redshirt senior guard Matt Hart finished with 11 points after going 3-for-3 from behind the arc off the bench.[/gwh_image]
“Matt Hart is the most tireless worker I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Joseph said. “So I have the utmost trust in him. Every time he’s in the game I call at least one play for him…I was just fired up for him but I wasn’t surprised at all.”
The Colonials got off to a slow start, making only one of their first eight shots and allowing the Patriots to sink three of their first four. The momentum and score soon evened out when Watanabe rejected a shot in the paint and followed it on the other end with a made-three to give GW a 10–7 advantage.
The following few minutes were anything but slow. Each team made every shot on its next four possessions, resulting in a 21–20 GW edge with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Neither team was able to gain an advantage for the remainder of the frame. During the final two minutes, starting freshman guard Jair Bolden gave the Colonials a two-point lead before the game was quickly evened up. Shortly after, an and-one by Cavanaugh was quickly answered by the same outcome from George Mason senior guard Marquise Moore – who led the visitors with 22 points – on the other end.
After a three-pointer from Sina with 12 seconds on the clock, Moore hit a runner at the buzzer to conclude the half trailing by one, 37–36.
At the start of the second half, Patriots redshirt senior forward Jalen Jenkins (13p) had the hot hand. He scored all of his team’s points in a four-minute stretch. Although, he was outpaced by GW’s offense led by Cavanaugh and Watanabe who both scored at a high rate.
Two free throws from graduate student forward Patrick Steeves (6p) and a mid-range shot from Watanabe gave the Colonials their largest lead of the game up to that point at 50–43. George Mason responded with a 6-0 run, bringing the contest back within one point with 13 minutes to play.
[gwh_image id=”1026499″ credit=”Ethan Stoler | Hatchet Photographer” align=”left” size=”1026499″]Graduate student forward Tyler Cavanaugh collected a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds Sunday.[/gwh_image]
After the Colonials were able to widen their the lead to double-digits, the margin never dipped below five points. Sina knocked down the majority of his free throws – adding to the team’s stellar 15-for-17 clip from the charity stripe – in the final minute, to extinguish any chance of a George Mason comeback.
The Colonials will head to Fordham (13-16, 7-9 A-10) Wednesday for their final road game of the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
