Photo via GW MBB
George Washington defeated St. Bonaventure 86-75 tonight. James Bishop IV led the game with 27 points while Daryl Banks III dropped 23. The Bonnies led and controlled nearly the entire first half but let things slip away following halftime. The Revolutionaries outscored the Bonnies 49-33 in the final 20 minutes of the game while Charles Pride and Chad Venning were mysteriously absent from Mark Schmidt’s lineup in the second half. Here’s how George Washington snapped their 12-game losing streak as the more motivated side tonight.
Tonight’s game got off to a fast start as James Bishop IV splashed a three on George Washington’s first possession of the game. The Bonnies immediately countered the triple as Charles Pride got to the rim for two. After a few empty possessions from both sides, Darren Buchanan Jr. drew the foul on Venning down low. The freshman split from the free throw line before Assa Essamvous tied the game with a midrange on the following possession. Assa would strike again following a Revolutionaries turnover with Bonaventure’s first three of the night. The Bonnies forced a shot clock violation which led to Moses Flowers cashing in a step-back three.
The 8-0 Bona run came to an end on the next possession as Bishop hit a three of his own. The Bonnies would continue to push the pace as Venning and Mika Adams-Woods grabbed back-to-back layups. George Washinton would hang around in the early going, though, as Buchanan Jr. made his first three of the evening. Flowers then answered that with another step-back triple before Buchanan Jr. netted yet another make from deep. The shooting barrage would not stop there. Flowers continued to stay hot as he hit his third three just seven minutes into the game. Jacoi Hutchinson would then get to the hoop, make his layup and draw the foul. He made his free throw as the game finally hit its first media timeout with the Bonnies up 20-16.
The offenses continued to click as the first half progressed. Hutchenson splashed his team’s fourth triple of the game to pull the Revolutionaries within one. Flowers again had the answer for the Bonnies, this time with a midrange jumper, for his 11th point of the half. Maximus Edwards then responded for GW as his layup fell in traffic. Eventually the offenses would finally slow, following their blistering start. Daryl Banks III got on the board after nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball with a three, but The Revolutionaries continue to stay close as Babatunde Akingbola grabbed a layup on the ensuing possession. The game entered another 90-plus second lull before Bishop cashed his third three of the game. George Washington had suddenly recaptured a 26-25 lead with under eight minutes to play in the first half.
The Revolutionary lead would not last long, however, as Banks struck with a midrange to put the Bonnies back on top. That bucket began a quick 6-0 for Bonaventure as Assa made a pair of pull-up jumpers from around the foul line. Bishop then finally broke his team’s nearly four-minute scoreless stretch with an NBA-range three. The Bonnies once again had the answer to GW’s comeback attempt as Noel Brown scored in the paint against his former team and Adams-Woods banged a wing three. George Washington would keep hanging around as Edwards scored at the rim. Bonaventure led by five with two minutes to play in the half.
Next it was Banks who went to the line with under a minute to play. The fifth-year senior knocked down his pair of free throws before Buchanan was fouled. The redshirt freshman split from the line, but the Revolutionaries grabbed the offensive rebound off his miss. Tre Autry then dished to Bishop who converted the easy layup. The final eight seconds of the first half would turn out to be its most eventful. Adams-Woods was fouled driving to the hoop which led to Akingbola strongly protesting to the referee. He was immediately given a technical foul. Banks made both technical free throws before Adams-Woods knocked in his two shots. Just when it looked like the Bonnies would go into the half up eight and with all the momentum, Autry beat the buzzer with a pull-up three. Bonaventure led 42-37 after the first 20 minutes.
Bishop led all scorers with 14 points at the break while Flowers followed close behind with 11. Other notable first-half scorers were Assa and Banks with nine along with Buchanan’s eight points. George Washington shot 13/24 (54.2%) from the floor, 8/15 (53.3%) from three and 3/7 from the line. St. Bonaventure went 15/27 (55.6%) from the field, 6/14 (42.9%) from deep and a perfect 6/6 from the charity stripe. The Revolutionaries outrebounded the Bonnies 14-13 while turning it over eight times compared to Bonaventure’s three in the first half.
The Bonnies opened the half empty on the offensive end which led to Antoine Smith Jr. splashing a corner three. Both teams registered turnovers on their next possessions before Adams-Woods and Bishop traded layups. Venning was next to score in the paint but was answered quickly by a pair of free throws from Akingbola. Mark Schmidt then showed his inability to make an in-game adjustment as he drew up three straight sets where the ball went in to double-covered Venning. Those three possessions resulted in no Bonaventure points and a pair of Revolutionary layups. GW now led 48-46 just four minutes into the half as Schmidt called the timeout.
Flowers bailed his team out following the pause with his fourth triple of the night to give the Bonnies the lead back. Next it was Brown scoring at the rim as he was not double teamed. The offenses continued to pick up the pace as Hutchinson splashed a game-tying three. Buchanan Jr. was next to score with a layup before Banks cashed in a big-time corner three as the shot clock bled low. Bishop worked his way to the line on the next trip down the floor where he made both his free throws. The game continued its back-and-forth nature as Assa worked his way to the rack for two. The Bonnies led 56-55 with under 12 minutes to play.
Edwards was next to strike from deep with the hand in his face to put George Washington back in front. Adams-Woods was then fouled in transition and split his free throws before Brown grabbed a layup in transition. Edwards then struck again from deep as he moved into double figures on the night. The whistles then continued as Flowers went to the free throw line and split his pair. The Revolutionaries would then blow the game wide open. Bishop banged a three before Edwards grabbed a layup and Autry knocked down a triple. It was an 8-0 GW run in just over a minute. Schmidt called the timeout as his team had crumbled and now trailed 69-60 with seven minutes to play.
George Washington continued to pile it on after the timeout as Bishop potted a pair of free throws to extend their lead to 11 with just five minutes to play. Brown would finally get the Bonnies back on the board with the team’s first field goal in over five minutes and first points in over four minutes. Buchanan Jr. responded immediately on the other end with a layup before Edwards was fouled. He hit both to push what had become an insurmountable Revolutionary lead to 13 with four minutes to play.
Banks banged a corner three to cut the GW lead back to 10 with 3:38 to play in the game. Schmidt called the timeout as he attempted to salvage the mess of a second half he had played a major role in causing. Hutchinson was fouled following the timeout and made both free throws before Bishop flushed a fast-break dunk. The Revolutionaries continued to pour it on as Edwards splashed a three to push his team’s lead to 17. Banks answered with a three of his own on the other end, but it was too little too late. Venning added a jumper and Banks another three to cut the lead to nine with a minute to play. The late Bonaventure scoring would not matter as the hole was too deep to dig out of. Edwards and Bishop added a pair of free throws each before Banks did the same to push the final score to 86-75 George Washington.
Bishop led all scorers with 27 points while Banks led his team with 23. The Revolutionaries also saw Edwards drop 19, Buchanan total 14 and Hutchinson grab 13. Other notable scorers for the Bonnies were Flowers with 15 points, Assa with 11 and Adams-Woods with 10. George Washington shot 27/46 (58.7%) from the floor, 15/29 (51.7%) from three and 17/23 (73.9%) from the free throw line. St. Bonaventure went 27/56 (48.2%) from the field, 11/24 (45.8%) from deep and 10/12 (83.3%) from the charity stripe. The Revolutionaries outrebounded the Bonnies 31-22 while still grabbing the win despite turning it over 14 times compared to Bonaventure’s seven.
The Bonnies squandered their chance for a double bye tonight with this embarrassing loss and may have potentially put themselves in a position to drop down to as low as a seven or eight seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Bonnies finish the regular season Saturday with Senior Day at home against struggling St. Louis.
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