Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter!

Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Men’s basketball upsets Dayton with last-second shot

Senior Maureece Rice was held scoreless for the second straight game Saturday, but it was the shot he wisely opted not to take that gave the GW men’s basketball team its dramatic 57-54 win over Dayton.

With the game tied and the clock winding down, the Colonials put the ball in Rice’s hands for the final shot. Two defenders swarmed him as he jumped to shoot, prompting Rice to dump the ball to his left and into the hands of a wide-open Wynton Witherspoon. The junior connected on the three-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining and after a final Dayton heave fell short, GW (6-13, 2-7 A-10) snapped its seven-game losing streak with the triumphant home victory.

“(Rice) made a terrific play because two guys (were guarding him),” head coach Karl Hobbs said after the win. “He made a great decision and Wynton hit a big shot.”

The crowd of 3,154, despite including a strong showing of Dayton fans, erupted as Witherspoon ran back down the court, where he was mobbed by jubilant teammates after the final buzzer rang through Smith Center. He eventually slipped out of his fellow Colonials’ embraces, running to celebrate with his younger brother, Wesley, who attended the game with their father.

“It was great, especially doing that in front of them,” Witherspoon said, his wide grin practically speaking for itself. “That felt beautiful.”

“I love my family so much,” he added before Hobbs and junior Rob Diggs began jokingly pleading with him not to cry.

While it was Witherspoon, who finished with 19 points, that drained the decisive basket, it is unlikely he would have been in the position to play the hero had it not been for a particularly dominant performance by Diggs. The Maryland native had a team-high 11 rebounds to go with his career-high 29 points, including an impressive second-half dunk on an alley-oop that Rice lobbed off the backboard. It was selected as the top play on that night’s SportsCenter on ESPN.

“I thought he had a terrific game,” Hobbs said of Diggs. “I know tomorrow morning he’ll probably be in the trainer’s room getting some ice on his back because he really carried us the entire night.”

GW entered Saturday’s contest having lost three consecutive home games for the first time since 2003, leaving current students unfamiliar with such struggles. Hobbs spoke about how important it was for the players to make the fans, and themselves, proud of their performances.

“They know they disappointed the fans, they know they disappointed themselves,” Hobbs said in reference to this season’s slip. “I think tonight was really about them proving themselves and I think that’s what they did.”

Next for the Colonials is a trip to Saint Louis Wednesday, where they will meet a Billikens team they bested 49-20 on Jan. 10. But after the game Hobbs was not ready to discuss the next opponent, preferring to take a moment to bask in a satisfying victory amid a tumultuous season.

Diggs said the team was equally focused on enjoying the present.

“We were saying out loud in the locker room when we went downstairs, just enjoy this feeling,” Diggs said. “‘Remember this moment, remember this moment.'”

More to Discover
Donate to The GW Hatchet