Saturday, February 8, 2014

Men's Basketball: GW 93 Fordham 67

Maurice Creek led GW with 20 points

From our friends at GW Athletics Communications...

GW Men's Hoops Crushes Fordham, 93-67, on Homecoming

Colonials Stay Unbeaten at Home This Season, Win 13th Straight at Smith Center

GW men's basketball shot 76 percent in the first half and rolled to a 93-67 rout of Fordham in front of a sold-out Homecoming crowd at the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday.

GW (19-4, 7-2 A-10) made 22-of-29 shots in the first half, including 8-of-12 three pointers and a stretch of 16 consecutive made field goals over a span of 11 minutes, to build a 56-33 halftime lead and cruise to its 13th consecutive home victory, tying the seventh-longest streak in program history.

Patricio Garino made 6 of 7 shots, on his way to 18 points

The Colonials put four scorers in double figures for the second straight game and 11th time this season, led by graduate student Maurice Creek's 20 points and game-high three 3-pointers. Sophomore  finished with 18 points and six rebounds, senior Isaiah Armwood posted 16 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore Kevin Larsen added 14 points and eight boards as the trio combined to make 17-of-21 shots.

Isaiah Armwood added 16 points and 8 rebounds

Creek, Garino and sophomore Joe McDonald each had four helpers as the Colonials assisted on 20-of-32 field goals, including 17-of-22 over the opening 20 minutes.

GW took the lead four seconds into the game on an alley-oop dunk from Creek to Garino and never relinquished it. Creek and McDonald followed up with threes for an early 8-0 advantage, then Creek hit another long jumper to make it 14-3 less than five minutes into the game.

Standing Room Only!

The Colonials only gained momentum from that point as freshman Skyler White hit back-to-back corner three-pointers to begin a stretch of 16 consecutive made field goals between the 13:35 and 2:22 marks. The impressive stretch led to a 40-22 run that produced a 54-25 lead for GW following freshman Nick Griffin's triple with 2:22 left before the break.

The difference peaked at 86-55 with 7:18 to play and GW coasted to improve to 12-0 at the Smith Center this season and 11-0 all-time against Fordham at home.

Brave fans. Pink... Really?

GW finished at 59.3 percent overall (32-54) for its second-best shooting performance of the year and connected on at least 10 three pointers (10-25) for the third time this season.

Fordham's (9-13, 2-7 A-10) Branden Frazier led all scorers with 23 points and Mandell Thomas added 18 on combined 15-of-38 shooting, but A-10 leading scorer Jon Severe was held to nine points, more than 10 below his average, on a season-low seven shot attempts.

Pikus Cup Award goes to Pi Kappa Alpha

Saturday's Homecoming game was highlighted by the induction of seven new members into GW Athletics' Hall of Fame, including Kwame Evans ('96), the men's basketball program's fifth all-time leading scorer who helped the Colonials to 78 victories and four postseasons from 1992-96.

GW will play three of its next four games on the road beginning Wednesday, Feb. 12 at VCU for a national NBCSN broadcast at 7 p.m.

Click here for today's box score.