Men’s Basketball Falls in High-Paced Bout Against Providence

(All Photos by Jordan Teller, Daily Colonial Basketball Photographer)

The George Washington Colonials (6-2) did everything they could to keep up, but fell short to the Providence Friars 110-97. Though freshman Lasan Kromah scored a game-high 22 points and senior forward Damian Hollis added 21 more, it wasn’t enough to stop the fast paced Friar offense which boasted six players in double figures – including the entire starting lineup.

The first half of the game was nothing short of a high-scoring donnybrook. The two teams seemed to answer every basket the other managed to sink. Providence (7-3) attempted to slow GW’s quick answers down with a full-court press, but GW dissected it with fast-break layups time after time.

“You talk about how talented George Washington is, we couldn’t press them,” Providence head coach Keno Davis said. “We couldn’t three-quarter court press them to slow them down; they went faster when we pressed them. For a team to be un-pressable, especially for us going in, I think shows how talented they [are].”

What spurred Providence to its lead more than anything, however, was its exceptional shooting from beyond the three-point line, as they went 10 for 16 in the first half. That same shooting carried into the second half as they finished 16 for 29 in the game. No matter how well GW seemed to defend them, the Friars just seemed to be able to put the ball in beyond the perimeter.

“Obviously we have to get better at defending the three. We’ve been doing a fantastic job defending [it],” Coach Hobbs said, “but not many teams can put four guys out on the court and all four guys can shoot that deep.”

On a record breaking night, the Friars broke the Smith Center records for most points scored by an opponent and the number of three-point field goals made. Point-guard Sharaud Curry, who finished with 16 points, tied the Smith Center individual opponent’s record for assists with 13.

When all was said and done, however, Coach Hobbs was very encouraged by the way his team played against a very tough, veteran Big East opponent.

“I’m so excited about our team. I’m just hoping that we continue to play the way we played today.”

The Colonials handled the ball extremely well by turning the ball over only nine times, by far their lowest total of the season. They also managed to shoot 46.9% from the field, their second highest percentage of the season.

The men’s team will take that strong effort into Towson (2-4) this Saturday as they embark on the first game of their four-game road trip. They will return to the Smith Center on January 2 to ring in the New Year against the Howard Bison (1-8) at 2 p.m.