Men’s basketball concluded its season-opening three-game homestand with authority.
After two close decisions over Maryland Eastern-Shore and Siena, the Colonials (3-0) cruised to their first dominant victory of the year Thursday night, taking down Arkansas Pine-Bluff (1-2) 61-41 with balanced efforts on both ends of the floor.
“I’m not really looking at the score honestly, I just want our guys to keep getting better,” interim head coach Maurice Joseph said. “[This game] was a great test for us to work on a zone offense, see what works, see what doesn’t, see which lineups work together…I’m just looking at the progression, are we getting better, are we doing the things that we practiced.”
Graduate student forward Tyler Cavanaugh had a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds in a contest where 11 different Colonials found the score sheet and the visitors never led.
GW climbed to a double-digit lead midway through the first half behind strong defense and an unwavering ability to draw fouls. The offense went 31.8 percent from the field in the opening frame, but scored half its points at the line – going 15-for-25 and finishing the game 26-for-41.
On their own end, the Colonials were even more solid. GW held their Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent to just 18 first-half points, and a 26.7 percent clip from the field and 3-for-22 from deep on the night.
The team’s bigs also guided a commanding presence on the glass all game. Freshmen forwards Collin Smith (8p) and Arnaldo Toro (4p) followed Cavanaugh with 7 and 6 boards, respectively, to help outrebound UAPB a total of 55-32.
“We stuck to our [defensive] principles,” Cavanaugh said. “They had a lot of drivers so we were in the gaps and we got back. They had a few shooters, and I thought we rebounded well – won by 23 on the glass so that’s important, and just continuing to use our size and depth in the frontcourt is crucial.”
Despite eight first-half turnovers to the Golden Lions’ seven, and shooting 1-for-12 from deep (3-for-20 on the night), GW was ahead by 12 at halftime.
The Colonials opened the second period with a forceful 15-2 run. With a little less than eight minutes to play, they held a 27-point lead – their largest of the night.
“The first half was ugly but I thought we came out to start the second half better and extended the lead,” Cavanaugh said. “I mean they’re a scrappy team so we’ve just got to make some more shots and we’ll be fine. But it’s nice to see everyone get involved because everyone works this hard everyday.”
The lopsided score down the stretch Thursday also allowed Joseph to get all 13 members of his roster involved.
Every Colonial saw at least five minutes of action, and all but freshmen Justin Williams and Adam Mitola – who each saw their first game action of the year – found the net. All in all, the bench combined for 21 points, 27 rebounds, 2 blocks and 4 steals.
“It’s good to develop our bench, that was the main thing. I wanted to make sure that our bench guys get some experience so we can have some depth going into the Atlantic 10 season,” Joseph said. “We are going to need a bunch of guys if we are going to be successful as the season progresses.”
Freshman forward Kevin Marfo led the effort off the pine with five points – followed by Toro and freshman guard Jair Bolden who added four apiece – but also committed seven of GW’s 19 total turnovers.
Now having won its two campus games in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic, the 3-0 Colonials’ next stop will be Kansas City, Mo. GW continues the tournament at the Sprint Center against Georgia on Monday at 7 p.m. and will face either UAB or Kansas in its final matchup on Tuesday.
“[Starting the season at 3-0] is great for our confidence going into a talented Georgia team and playing them at Kansas City but next practice – Saturday morning, we’ve got to go to work,” Joseph said. “We still had 19 turnovers, we still only shot 35.6 percent so we’ve got to get some extra shots up so we’re confident shooting the ball. We still have a lot of things to tighten up but I like where we’re at.”
