Karl Hobbs and the Colonials used their home finale to end the team’s 10-game losing streak with a win over Richmond, giving Hobbs a chance to address his fans on a positive note.

The win, which came two days after the team’s worst loss of the season to Dayton, does not save GW from its worst season in 12 years. But it does lift some of the disappointment that has engulfed GW since its season began to cave in six weeks ago.

The long-awaited taste of victory was complimented by a Hobbs address over the PA system. The first-year head coach thanked fans for supporting his team during its six-week slump.

After the game, Hobbs said he was proud of his players, adding that the team and fans deserved a win.

“I told the players there’s no way we can let these fans come back today to watch this game, and we don’t give them a win,” Hobbs said in his post-game press conference. “We played for our fans and we played for our seniors, and we wanted to make sure that we gave a tremendous effort today. And I thought we did.”

The game marked the last home appearance for senior starter Jaason Smith, center Albert Roma and walk-on Jason Richards.

“The win was great because we all played together,” Smith said after the Richmond game. “I’m just happy because we definitely stopped the bleeding. It was gushing a little bit, but we stopped it.”

With a win on Saturday at Fordham in their regular season finale, the Colonials (11-15, 4-11 A-10) could equal last year’s regular season win total of 12.

Smith said it will be vital for the Colonials to play as hard as they did against Richmond when they play Fordham (8-17, 4-10 A-10) next Saturday.

“We just have to go in there and play hard and play as a team like we did (against Richmond),” Smith said.

GW 53, Richmond 49
Feb. 23
Smith Center

GW held off a late Spiders charge in its 53-49 win before a half-empty Smith Center crowd that witnessed the end of the team’s longest losing streak in 12 years.

With 34 seconds remaining, Chris Monroe lifted GW by four with a put-back after a Greg Collucci missed three-pointer. Monroe was there after the Spiders missed thier next three shots, holding the rebound and securing the win.

The win was reminiscent of early games this season when the Colonials used tough defense to tire out opponents. The Colonials allowed 40 fewer points against Richmond (15-12, 9-5 A-10) than they did in a 30-point pounding by Dayton less than 48 hours.

The Colonials held the Spiders to 30 percent shooting (15-50), and held Richmond’s top scorer, Reggie Brown (13.5 points a game), to two points on 0-for-15 shooting. For the first time in six games, GW out-rebounded its opponent, pulling down 37 boards to Richmond’s 31.

“They played great today,” Richmond head coach John Beilein said. “They played tremendous defense, and we didn’t play so well, and it was because of GW.”

Monroe led the Colonials with 20 points on 5-for-11 shooting while adding eight rebounds. Senior Jaason Smith, in his final home game, scored seven points on 3-for-10 shooting with a game-high 11 rebounds.

The two teams traded leads throughout the first half, with Richmond never holding more than a five-point lead and GW never holding more than a three-point lead. Richmond’s Jeff Myers hit a baseline jumper with four seconds remaining in the half and the teams carried a 23-point tie to the locker room.

GW went on a 19-6 run to start the second half and never trailed again. T.J. Thompson found Monroe under the basket for an easy lay-up with eight and a half minutes to go to put the Colonials up 42-29. During the run, Richmond shot 2-for-16 from the field.

The Spiders slowly chipped away at the lead and cut it to two with just under a minute to go when Mike Skrocki hit a three-pointer, but Monroe’s shot sealed it for the Colonials.

Dayton 89, GW 59
Feb. 21
Smith Center

The frustration of a team that suffered its 10th-straight loss surfaced Thursday night in GW’s 89-59 loss to visiting Dayton – the Colonials’ worst loss this season.

The Colonials combined for just under 28 percent shooting from the field (17-for-61) while Dayton (17-8, 9-5 A-10) shot twice as well (52 percent) and out rebounded the Colonials 46-35.

The mounting tension of the inability to score was evident later in the game when struggling three-point specialist Greg Collucci was handed a technical foul with 13 minutes remaining in the game for complaining he was fouled on a three-point attempt. Darnell Miller, who was held scoreless, and Dayton’s D.J. Stelly were assessed matching technical fouls for a pushing match between them.

GW cut a seven-point Dayton lead to one when Collucci hit a three-pointer with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half. The Colonials were unable to sustain momentum though, hitting only one field goal over the next four minutes while being outscored 28-11 for the rest of half. The Flyers capped off their long run with a three-pointer at the buzzer by Ramod Marshall to take a 40-22 lead into the locker room. The rest of the game followed a similar pattern.

“I think they just came out and beat us at every phase of the game,” Hobbs said. “Rebounding, transition, they made shots. We just could not find a way to stop them.”