If freshman Lasan Kromah “arrived” with his 17-point effort in Tuesday’s road win, the first-year guard made sure the home crowd knew the face to go with the name Saturday afternoon, scoring a game-high 21 points to lead GW to a 94-51 win over UMBC in its home opener.

Twenty of Kromah’s 21 points came on a first-half stretch of five possessions in which he hit four three-pointers and got an assist on an alley-oop to classmate Tim Johnson. The Colonials’ (3-0) lead stretched from 19 points to 27 during the run, putting them in position to run away with the victory.

“I thought we came out with great energy,” head coach Karl Hobbs said at the post-game press conference before gesturing to Kromah. “I thought that this young man sitting to my right, offensively, really got us off to a terrific start scoring-wise.”

While GW’s Kromah-led offense obviously had a big day, the Colonials’ defense shone as well. Kromah led GW with four steals while senior Damian Hollis, who was second on the team with 12 points, led the way with three of the team’s eight blocks.

The Colonials held the Retrievers to 30-percent shooting in the game, using pressure defense to force the visitors to rush shots and play at a tempo that UMBC head coach Randy Monroe said threw his team off of its game plan.

“We’re not ready to play like that and I thought GW did a very good job of making us play that way,” he said.

The undefeated Colonials will host Princeton Tuesday, with the game scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

Be sure to check out The Hatchet in print and www.gwhatchet.com Monday for more coverage.