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Men's Basketball
Bonnies scare No. 6 George Washington but fall, 89-78
March 1, 2006
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - George Washington survived a major scare from St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night at the Reilly Center, riding three-point shooting to an 89-78 win. The Colonials (25-1) extended the nation's longest win streak to 17 games and remained undefeated in the Atlantic 10 Conference at 15-0. GW is now the only one-loss team left in Division I following Duke's loss at Florida State on Wednesday. Inspired by a Senior Night crowd, the Bonnies led for much of the second half before GW's three-point shots and a decided rebounding advantage enabled the Colonials to prevail. St. Bonaventure was ahead 65-61 with 7:31 left in the game when the Colonials exploded for a 13-0 run to take control at 74-65 with 5:13 remaining. Danilo Pinnock and Maureece Rice fueled the decisive run with three consecutive shots from long range - two by Rice, who went 4-5 on three-pointers for the game. The closest the Bonnies came after that was 81-73 on two free throws by Isiah Carson with 2:12 left. "GW made some really big shots and came up with some key rebounds when they needed them most," said St. Bonaventure coach Anthony Solomon. "Our effort and our execution was very, very good." George Washington, which is ranked seventh by the Associated Press and sixth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, maintained its lead by making seven out of 10 free throws over the final 1:28. Led by Rice, the Colonials went 10-19 (53 percent) from three-point range including 5-8 in the second half. GW out-rebounded St. Bonaventure 47-28. Included in that margin were 18 offensive rebounds for the visitors. Early in the game, St. Bonaventure trailed 17-9 but used a 12-4 run - capped by a Michael Lee dunk - to tie the game at 21-21 with 10:38 in the half. The score was knotted at 23 when GW pulled away with an 11-2 run over the next 2:23 to lead 34-25. The Bonnies, however, closed the gap with a 12-6 run to close the half. As the first half ended, GW head coach Karl Hobbs was assessed a technical foul for arguing with referee Paul Faia. With both teams in the locker room, Tyler Relph sank a pair of free throws to cut the Colonial lead to 40-37 at the half.
St. Bonaventure then tied the game on its first possession of the second half when Relph drained a three, and then took its first lead of the game on a traditional three-point play by All-Conference senior guard Ahmad Smith that made it 43-40. The Bonnies continued to lead from that point until GW's 13-0 spurt. The Brown and White's largest lead of the night was at 56-50 with 11:19 remaining. "It's hard for the coaches, university and fans of our program not to be proud for the effort our young men put forth tonight against the number six team in the country," Solomon said. "I wanted us to be as emotionally high as possible tonight. Why not be sky high against an opponent like this? We were in the game and believed we could win." Playing in his final home game, Smith scored 14 points and totaled four rebounds, seven assists and three steals. He had to hold back tears after fouling out with 51 seconds left and left the RC floor for the final time. "It really hit me at the end of the game," Smith said. "We don't have anything to regret tonight. It was real special playing against a top-10 team to close out my home career." Sophomore Michael Lee led the Bonnies with 18 points, shooting 9-13 from the field. Senior forward Patrick Lottin finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Relph added 13 points and Paul Williams had 10. "Experience was the only difference tonight," Hobbs said. "We had a couple of turnovers that we were able to turn to easy points. I was so impressed with St. Bonaventure. It is unfortunate that they are playing their best basketball now because I think they have a few wins left in them. That is a team playing with a lot of determination." Omar Williams paced GW with 18 points while Rice finished with 16. The Colonials, who shot 47 percent from the field overall, had five players finish in double figures. The Bonnies were officially eliminated from contention for an Atlantic 10 Tournament berth with the loss. St. Bonaventure will visit Richmond on Saturday, March 4, at 7 p.m. to close the season. GAME NOTES
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