It was a cold snow day in the Nation’s Capital as VCU made the trip up from the state capital to face George Washington. The Rams came into the game in a three way tie for the coveted fourth spot in the conference. The top four teams get the “double-bye” in the conference tournament. On the other side, George Washington was one game behind Dayton as they try to get out of the bottom four of the Atlantic 10. It was the Colonials who ceased the moment with a 80-56 victory. It was the third win in their last four outings.
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first half but George Washington warmed up hitting two of their first three three pointers as they raced to a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout. Over the next few minutes, VCU was from the field as the Colonials pushed the lead to 10 after a three point play by Arnaldo Toro. The momentum continued as the half went on as ahe Colonials were able to take care of the ball (3 turnovers) in the half.
With the Rams struggling on offense, they couldn’t get into their full court trap package. not allowing the Rams to get out and run. George Washington took full advantage of it in the half. Yuta Watanabe scored 14 in the first half including 2-3 from the three point line.
Watanabe’s last three up the half pushed the lead up 40-19. After the lead ballooned to 23, VCU closed out the half on a 5-0 run cutting the lead to 45-27.
The second half started the way much of the first half played out, Colonials dominating VCU’s halfcourt defense eventually pushing the lead to 67-39. George Washington would eventually lead by as much as 33 in the second half.
The Colonials shot 56% for the game while VCU finished shooting only 37% from the floor.
Watanabe finished with 23 points and 9 rebounds while Terry Nolan Jr. contributed 18 points. For VCU, Justin Tillman scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
VCU Postgame
George Washington Postgame
