University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
George Washington
George Washington Pulls Away From The Spiders
02/21/2007 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2007
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Richmond led by as many as seven and trailed George Washington by five with under nine minutres remaining, but the Colonials wore down the youthful Spiders for a 68-49 victory Wednesday night at the Smith Center.
A 13-0 run turned a 44-39 George Washington lead with 8:51 left to a 57-39 advantage with 6:07 remaining. The Spiders missed four three and turned it over once during GW's run.
"I think my guys played well, well enough that it should not have been a 19-point game," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "We need to make some more shots."
Freshman Dan Geriot led the Spiders with 14 points, making 6-of-9 field goals. Geriot was in foul trouble throughout the game and was out during the Colonials 13-0 run.
"Dan has the ability to make baskets, the best ability you can have," Mooney said. "He's been in foul trouble in almost every game, he needs to stay out of foul trouble. He would have helped us during that drought."
Richmond freshman Brian Morris had nine points and five assists.
The Spiders only turned the ball over nine times against the Colonials' pressure, becoming the first team to turn it over less than 13 times against GW this year. The Colonials did out-rebounded the Spiders 39-21, including 12 offensive rebounds that led to 12 second-chance points. GW pushed the pace of the game throughout and became just the third team to score over 10 fast-break points.
Richmond shot just 36 percent from the field (9-of-25) in the second half and finished the game 5-of-21 from behind the 3-point arc.
"I didn't think we would have had to take as many 3s if we had made more," Mooney said.
Richmond opened up an early 9-4 lead on a strong driving lay-up by Morris, and had a seven-point lead with 10:19 to play in the first half on a jumper by Gonzalvez. The Spiders still led by six with 6:37 to play after a 3-pointer by Geriot, but George Washington (17-8, 8-5 Atlantic 10) would go on an 11-1 run to take a 26-22 lead. A jumper by junior Drew Crank and 1-of-2 free throws by the center had the Spiders down 30-25 at the half.
The Colonials opened up a 10-point lead with 12 minutes remaining, but 3-pointers by Gonzalvez and red-shirt freshman Ryan Butler had Richmond within five with 10 minutes left. That's when George Washington embarked on its quick 13-0 run to put the Spiders away.
Rob Diggs came off the bench to lead George Washington with a career-high 24 points, while Maureece Rice had 16 and Carl Elliott had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spiders return to action on Saturday when they host Saint Joseph's for Senior Day. Peter Thomas will be honored before the game. Richmond has one more home game on March 3 versus Rhode Island, when the students will be on spring break.
