Sunday, December 29, 2019

Men's Basketball: George Washington 78 Longwood 65

GW's Maceo Jack (#14) led all scorers with 20 points

From our friends at GW Athletics...

GW Men’s Basketball Triumphs Over Longwood, 78-65

Maceo Jack finished with a game-high 20 points

After a week lay-off during the university's holiday break, the GW men's basketball team returned to action in the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday afternoon to host the Longwood Lancers from Farmville, Virginia.

It took several minutes for the Buff and Blue to arouse from their long winter's nap, but when they did so, every student-athlete who saw the floor participated in the holiday party. Despite falling behind by as many as 12 points before the salad plates were cleared, GW didn't let the 20-8 deficit at the 14:35 mark steal their joy. Faced with a 29-19 deficit with 8:26 to play, GW exploded on a 21-0 to take charge and run away from the Lancers thereafter.


A five-point GW lead at the intermission was extended into a 14-point lead at its largest, as the Colonials pulled even at .500 once again with a 6-6 mark through Head Coach Jamion Christian's first dozen games in Foggy Bottom. The Smith Center faithful were treated to the GW debut of 6'5" sophomore guard Amir Harris (Frederick, MD) after the Nebraska transfer missed the season's first 11 games. Touted by Christian as a true game-changer, Harris was exactly that in his home white uniform for the first time. He finished with 11 points, a game-high eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks and a pair of made threes in an all-around performance on both ends of the floor.

Amir Harris (#22, team-high 8 rebounds) made his GW debut

A game after the Colonials reserves were outdone by a deeper Harvard foe, the bench got a lift from Harris' return and flashes of brilliance from first-year Chase Paar. Paar (Mount Airy, MD) was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor for his first six collegiate points, contributing to the bench production that registered 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor. Harris was 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep, while junior Ace Stallings checked in with a 2-of-3 night, including a thunderous jam in the second half that shook the crowd out of its seats.

Junior Ace Stallings (#20) added 4 points & 4 rebounds

Not lost in the key bench performance that showcased some of GW's depth, the starting unit continued to get it done. After recording his first GW double-double last time out, Armel Potter repeated the deed and went off for 13 points and 12 assists, the most by any GW student-athlete in at least the last 10 seasons. 6'1" first-year guard Jameer Nelson Jr. played above the rim again and recorded 16 points (7-of-13 FG, 2-of-3 3pt. FG) and seven rebounds, while Maceo Jack gave his teammates plenty of room to operate in the paint as he stretched the defense by tickling the twine from outside in a 4-of-11 three-point shooting show (game-high 20 points.) As a team, the home squad nailed 10-of-22 three-pointers (.455), and efficiently scored all 78 of its points either behind the three-point arc (30), at the free throw line (8), or in the paint (40.) First-year Jamison Battle extended his A-10 leading three-point total to 38 in his 2-of-5 performance from behind the arc, as he's now shooting .414 from distance this season.

Armel Potter (#2) led all players with 12 assists

With a final non-conference game to play at Vermont on Tuesday at 2 PM, GW has a chance to enter A-10 play next Sunday at home vs. Saint Bonaventure (4 PM, ESPN+, TuneIn), with six players averaging double-digits in scoring. Paced by Potter (15.1 PPG), Battle (11.5), Jack (11.5), Nelson Jr. (11.1) and Harris (11.0) provide the Colonials ample balance and scoring punch. Not far behind is Arnaldo Toro, with his 8.9 points per game to go with his team-high 10.4 rebounds per game in a near double-double average.

Jameer Nelson Jr. (#12) scored 16 points

Click here for yesterday's box score.

Chase Paar (#3) scored 6 points in just 5 minutes

Arnaldo Toro (#11) grabbed 7 rebounds in only 18 minutes

Shabooty Phillips led Longwood with 5 assists & 7 rebounds

Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich

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