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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

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

Men’s basketball loses 16-point lead, exits A-10 Tournament with loss to Saint Joseph’s

The Colonials exit the court after their 86 to 80 loss to Saint Joesph's in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. GW led by 14 at the half but failed defend their lead. Dan Rich | Contributing Photo Editor
The Colonials exit the court after their 86 to 80 loss to Saint Joesph’s in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. GW led by 14 at the half but failed defend their lead. Dan Rich | Contributing Photo Editor
BROOKLYN, N.Y.–At halftime of the men’s basketball team’s Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinal game against Saint Joseph’s Friday, GW had led by as many as 16 and had hit 11 threes. Colonials fans were in a euphoric stupor.

But beneath the glitzy finish provided by the three-point barrage, there were cracks: Saint Joseph’s was dominating the paint and shooting nearly 60 percent.

“I told them we were 11-for-16 and that’s great, but it’s a little bit of fool’s gold,” head coach Mike Lonergan said.

The Colonials could have carried that 16 point lead into the half, had newly minted Atlantic 10 Player of the Year DeAndre’ Bembry not scored in the last 30 seconds. Senior forward Kevin Larsen had just become the seventh Colonial to hit from downtown, but he and his teammates failed to get back on defense.

That lapse was a harbinger of things to come. Unable to get a stop, GW went on to lose 86-80, as the Hawks and Bembry, who led all scorers with 21 points, ended the Colonials’ chance at an Atlantic 10 title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“I thought we lost the game in the first four minutes of the second half,” Lonergan said. “We just had no energy and Saint Joe’s came out really aggressive with a lot of energy.”

The Colonials began the second half by going 1-for-6 from the field with a trio of turnovers and a few missed layups. Four minutes in, Lonergan called timeout with Saint Joseph’s on a 10-3 run, its players still getting to the rim with ease.

Six Colonials wound up scoring in double-figures, led by senior point guard Joe McDonald with 15, but Saint Joseph’s finished shooting 57 percent and outscored GW 42-18 in the paint as well as 19-7 from the free throw line.

Senior forward Kevin Larsen passes out of a double-team in GW's loss to Saint Joseph's Friday. Larsen neared a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Cameron Lancaster | Senior Staff Photographer
Senior forward Kevin Larsen passes out of a double-team in GW’s loss to Saint Joseph’s Friday. Larsen neared a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Cameron Lancaster | Senior Staff Photographer

“This hurts because we thought we had it with a big lead early, and they just out-toughed us, especially on the glass in the last few stretches of the game,” McDonald said. “We came out very lackadaisical.”

Once the threes stopped falling, the Colonials didn’t have an answer for Saint Joseph’s quickness. GW was fouling in its matchup man-to-man, and when Lonergan tried to play the 1-3-1 the Colonials immediately gave up a three. Trying to spread out and get penetration wasn’t working either, and the Hawks were winning the battle at the free throw line.

With about eight minutes remaining, back-to-back threes from senior forward Patricio Garino seemed like a potential response, but GW still couldn’t get a stop. With six minutes and change to play, Saint Joseph’s took a 70-69 lead off a three-pointer by James Demery, who finished 6-for-7 with 15 points and eight rebounds.

The lead flipped back and forth a couple times, but Hawks skipper Phil Martelli still had some tricks up his sleeve and with 5:11 to play, redshirt junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh fouled out. He’d picked up his fourth running into Bembry after his teammates failed to box out and Saint Joseph’s got an offensive rebound.

“When Tyler fouls out we really don’t have another big there to take some of the pressure off of me so we really missed him in the final five, six minutes,” Larsen, who finished with a near-triple double of 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, said.

Saint Joseph’s used a zone that flummoxed the Colonials, who allowed a 9-0 run following Cavanaugh’s exit. By the time graduate student guard Alex Mitola hit a three-pointer with 1:30 to play, it was too late.

Redshirt junior Tyler Cavanaugh sits frustrated on the bench after fouling out late in the second half of GW's loss to Saint Joseph's. Cavanaugh scored 13 points in only 24 minutes. Dan Rich | Contributing Photo Editor
Redshirt junior Tyler Cavanaugh sits frustrated on the bench after fouling out late in the second half of GW’s loss to Saint Joseph’s. Cavanaugh scored 13 points in only 24 minutes. Dan Rich | Contributing Photo Editor

“I think they switched to the zone in a critical time and I think once they got the lead we got pretty stagnant,” McDonald said. “We needed to find a way to get the ball inside and get to the line and we just didn’t do so.”

Their A-10 tournament finished, the Colonials will wait until Selection Sunday to learn their postseason fate, but are likely headed to the NIT and not the NCAA Tournament.

“Whatever tournament we’re in we’d really like to try to make some noise,” Lonergan said. “It’s hard to tell right now because I’m really bummed out and sad. I feel like crying because I thought, today, it’s just a huge game.”

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