Men’s basketball head coach Karl Hobbs is known for his courtside antics. To show frustration with his team’s play, he often jumps up and down, yelling, while letting the referees know his opinions on their work. But the biggest scare Hobbs got during the Colonials’ trip to Australia was the near disappearance of his Atlantic 10 basketball championship ring. While scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, the ring slipped off but was later retrieved by a diver.
The Colonials’ play certainly did not give him a scare. His squad won three of five competitions against elite Australian squads.
Junior J.R. Pinnock blazed the way for the Colonials, averaging 25 points over the trip. The Colonials saw increased performance from Maureece Rice and Dokun Akingbade, who both contributed heavily on the offensive end.
Most notably missing from the box scores was senior Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who didn’t make the trip to Australia with the Colonials. The London native is working out with the English national team.
The assistant coaches, particularly Darrell Brooks, took over coaching duties while coach Karl Hobbs observed from the stands.
Australian tour closes on split with Cairns
The Colonials ended their nearly two-week-long road trip with two games against the Australian National Basketball League’s Cairns Taipans. Despite winning the first 101-82 on Aug. 21, the Colonials dropped the second, 125-111, on Aug. 23.
In the loss, sophomore Maureece Rice hit six of 10 three pointers in the second half en route to a team-high 29 points. Senior Mike Hall dropped 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while junior Carl Elliott registered a double-double, with 13 points and 12 assists. Junior J.R. Pinnock had 20 points, despite sitting out with foul trouble with 5:42 remaining.
“Tonight I felt we were tired,” assistant coach Darrel Brooks said in a news release, referring to Tuesday’s loss. “I thought we played
tired. We didn’t have enough consistent minutes on either end of the
floor. We put some good things together but not enough and (Cairns) played really well.”
“What we learned from tonight’s game is that, mentally, we have to always be prepared,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or when we play or what the situation is, we have to be mentally prepared. We weren’t ready mentally when we had to be.”
In the win on Aug. 21, Pinnock scored 24 while Hall followed close behind with 23 to lead GW. Senior Omar Williams and Rice dropped 16 points a piece.
“For the last three quarters of the game, we did a terrific job defensively,” Brooks said. “We didn’t allow them to reverse the ball, and we did a good job of putting (defensive) pressure on the ball, and we rebounded well. On the offensive end, we did a great job of sharing the game. We made the extra pass, and the guys did a good job of making the shots that we practice, and we got tremendous payback from that.”
GW dropped by Kings
Pinnock continued his strong play, scoring 30 points to lead GW in a 105-100 loss to the Sydney Kings of the NBL in front of 1,050 fans in Sydney’s Sutherland Stadium on Aug. 18.
Senior Mike Hall registered 22 points while classmate Omar Williams dropped 16. Sophomore guard Maureece Rice scored 13 while junior Carl Elliott had 10 to round out five Colonials in double figures.
After the intermission, Pinnock connected on a three-pointer to knot the game at 51-51. The second half was close but the Kings were able to convert from the line (28-33) to put the game out of reach.
GW out-rebounded their opponent, 46-44, for the third consecutive time.
Colonials make it two straight
After beating the Central Coast Power by 62 points on Aug. 16, GW men’s basketball coach Karl Hobbs said he wished the competition was a bit stiffer. On Aug. 17, Hobbs’ wish came true.
The Colonials used a late-game scoring spurt to beat Australia’s Institute of Sport 106-87. Junior J.R. Pinnock had a game-high 22 points while classmate Omar Williams had 21. Junior Dokun Akingbade had his second consecutive double-double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
“I was more impressed with the opposing team than our team today,” Hobbs said in a news release. “The fact that they scored 87 points and they kept playing even when we went up by 25 points, they kept playing, particularly in the second half.”
GW jumped to a 28-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Australians closed the margin to 10 points with 6:40 left in the contest. Untimely fouls forced Pinnock and big man Alexander Kireev out of the game early.
After talking it over with Hobbs, the Colonials made a late-game run and increased the lead to 21 on a pair of treys by junior Mike Hall, who finished with 19 points.
Colonials turn off Power
Last season, the longest trip the GW men’s basketball team made was to Nashville, Tenn., en route to a first-round loss in the NCAA basketball tournament. On Aug. 13, the Colonials flew an exhausting 18 hours to Australia and still managed on Aug. 16 to roll over the Central Coast Power, 126-64. The contest was in Gosford, Australia.
Junior J.R. Pinnock set the pace for the Colonials with a game-high 29 points on 12-for-22 shooting, and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Sophomore Maureece Rice chipped in with 22 points followed by senior Omar Williams’ 20. Senior Mike Hall recorded a double-double, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Dokun Akingbade scored 15 points along with 11 boards. GW shot 48.5 percent from the floor, throwing up 103 shots. The Colonials successfully stopped the Power with 26 steals, with Hall, Rice and Elliot recording six apiece.
Coach Karl Hobbs sat this game out, watching from a press box while assistant Darrell Brooks took control of his veteran squad.
