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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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

Lonergan to draw on road trip’s lessons before first A-10 home game

Senior guard Tony Taylor drives past Bradley players toward the basket earlier this season. | File Photo

On the heels of a two-game road trip to open league play that saw the Colonials fall to both St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis, head coach Mike Lonergan and his team return to the Smith Center to host Rhode Island Wednesday night.

It’s the first conference match at home this season for GW, and Lonergan is determined to build upon the play his team exhibited on their road trip. Though they lost two games to strong opponents, Lonergan said, GW’s travels weren’t without positives, highlighting improved defensive play from sophomore forward Nemanja Mikic and a newly strong first-half effort against Saint Louis.

Another positive for the head coach was junior forward David Pellom’s offensive play. After shaking the off-the-court issues that Lonergan said hurt the forward earlier this season, he’s been putting up the kind of numbers Lonergan is looking for, earning Pellom a starting slot against Rhode Island.

“He’s probably going to start Wednesday. He’s obviously scoring, mostly the dunks and layups, but he’s done a great job with that,” Lonergan said. “He’s got to make defensive rebounds more of a priority, [but] he deserves to start right now.”

In addition to building on the trip’s positive aspects, Lonergan intends to work hard in the coming days to address the holes the two league plays exposed in his team’s play. One, he said, is effort, pointing to GW’s poor rebounding performance against Saint Louis, where they were beaten on the boards 21-10 in the second half alone.

Another lacking area is the Colonials’ shooting, which Lonergan called “awful.” The team struggles at the basket without a solid offensive rhythm, he said, underlined by disappointing performances from veteran players who should be leading the team. Lonergan pointed to senior forward Aaron Ware and junior guard Lasan Kromah as two player who put up solid numbers at earlier points on the season that are now struggling to add any offensive weight to GW’s attack.

“We’re just so inconsistent,” Lonergan said. “That’s the most disappointing thing. We have experienced players and we’re not sure what we’re going to get game-to-game from them.”

GW’s poor offensive performance often carries over to the defensive side of play, its coach said. When the Colonials aren’t scoring, Lonergan said, their effort at the other end of the court slides, as well.

Adding to that challenge is the players’ defensive inexperience, Lonergan said. His defense-first style is new to the Colonials, and the change in game plan is evident on the court.

“I think some guys are giving the effort, I ust think some of the guys have never played defense in their life. Some of them don’t know how to play defense,” Lonergan said. “The problem with defense is, if one guy breaks down, there’s not much the other guys can do about it.”

As the Colonials prepare to host the Rams Wednesday night, with tip set for 7 p.m., Lonergan sees the coming days of practice as a chance to use a less-than ideal opening road trip as true learning opportunity for his team.

“We’re coming off a two-game road trip where we lost both games to pretty good opponents,” Lonergan said. “There are some positives,  but we have to get a whole lot better, that’s for sure.”

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