Posted Saturday, Jan. 21, 6:55 p.m.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Before the days of a ranked GW men’s basketball team, head coach Karl Hobbs used to shrug off home wins, stating that his team’s success would be validated with consistent wins in hostile Atlantic 10 arenas.

Two down, two to go in those arenas.

“Three years ago, this team would’ve lost that game,” Hobbs said Saturday afternoon after GW beat A-10 newcomer Charlotte.

Sophomore Maureece Rice was still a Philadelphia high school star three years ago. Rice, who barely had the opportunity to play on an unranked GW squad, played the best game of his short tenure with a career-high 21 points, and five assists and no turnovers in 28 minutes of play, leading the Colonials to a key 83-69 road victory over Charlotte in front of 7,562 hostile fans. The win brings GW to 14-1 and 4-0 in the A-10 and ties the school record for the second-best start in history.

The GW backcourt, which was named by Sports Illustrated as the seventh best in the nation, proved key in Saturday’s victory. Junior Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock had 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting while classmate Carl Elliott had 10 points and five rebounds. They pair combined for four of the team’s 11 turnovers.

Senior Pops Mensah-Bonsu went 4-for-6 from the floor and grabbed four rebounds en route to 10 points in 21 minutes. Mensah-Bonsu was efficient on the defensive end, holding Charlotte’s Curtis Withers to nine points on 2-for-9 shooting. Withers averaged 17.7 points per game before Saturday.

Marcus Bennett had 13 points for Charlotte (11-7, 4-2 A-10), while Leemire Goldwire put in 10 points.

GW travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to face A-10 cellar-dweller Duquesne.