The GW men’s basketball team hoped to get a good contest out of Court Authority, an exhibition team with a roster full of former collegiate players.
But by halftime the Colonials had built a 55-31 lead and would end up winning their second and final exhibition game 102-90 Friday at the Smith Center.
“I was kind of shocked at the big lead at halftime. I had a speech all planned I’d been working on all afternoon, but I couldn’t use it,” GW head coach Tom Penders joked after the game. “I was going to pound the table, I was going to throw something at the chalkboard, but they get up 24 points.”
GW extended its lead to as much as 27 at a couple of points early in the second half. Court Authority began chipping away at the lead at the 15:30 mark behind the stellar second-half play of former University of Virginia standouts Norman Nolan and Harold Deane. While GW held the pair silent in the first half, Nolan finished with 26 points and Deane had 24.
Court Authority trimmed GW’s lead to nine points at 84-75 on a fast break layup by Kass Weaver at the 5:24 mark, but a three-pointer a few seconds later by freshman Andry Sola pushed GW’s lead to double digits for good. When Court Authority got within 11 at 93-82, GW rattled off seven-unanswered points to reach the 100-point mark for the second time in as many games.
“Wednesday night we ran more (against One World), today, we scored 102 points. Still it seemed like we slowed down a little bit,” said freshman Albert Roma, who started for GW and played well against Nolan early. “Of course you look at the score and think that we played better on Wednesday, but I think it (Court Authority) is a better team.”
Penders said he was not too upset that his team lost much of its big lead, although he said he was slightly concerned about the fouls his team racked up. The Colonials were slowed by fouls in the second half. Seniors Yegor Mescheriakov and Shawnta Rogers fouled out, while sophomore Mike King finished with four.
“At halftime, we talked about not hammering and putting away these guys, but playing a little smarter, not gambling as much and staying out of foul trouble,” Penders said.
GW was led for the second game in a row by King , who scored 23 points despite 6-of-25 shooting from the field. Sophomore Antxon Iturbe and senior Shawnta Rogers each scored 17 for the Colonials.
GW took control of the game early, jumping out to a 23-9 lead with just over eight minutes gone. Court Authority held GW’s lead in the teens until the end of the half. With the score 45-31 at the two-minute mark, GW scored 12 unanswered points, including two three-pointers by sophomore Roey Eyal. His second three went in, with time running out in the half.
GW begins its regular season at home against George Mason University Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
