Men’s basketball took down Virginia State 85-58 Monday in its first regular season matchup after dominating the paint and pulling away with a dominant second half scoring run.
The Colonials scored 38 points inside the paint and outrebounded the Trojans 47 to 40 through the game, allowing them to control the pace and build a sizable lead. The final score marked the first regular season victory of Head Coach Chris Caputo’s tenure with the Colonials since his offseason arrival, following a preseason victory last Thursday.
In a game that even drew ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski to the stands, fans packed the Smith Center for GW’s home opener Monday night, pushing the attendance to 1,711 – higher than all but one of last season’s games. The turnout was dramatically more than that of last Sunday’s exhibition match victory against Western Connecticut State.
“Yeah, it was amazing playing in front of the fans,” senior guard James Bishop said. “It’s really a sixth player on that floor. We’ve got a packed house and bringing that energy and talking trash out there, really helps out.”
Bishop led the way for GW, netting a game-high 21 points and dishing out nine assists, while only committing one turnover. Bishop shot six for 13 from the floor and just one for six from three but managed to draw multiple fouls and hit eight free throws.
Less than a minute into the game, Bishop made an inside layup off an assist from senior forward Ricky Lindo for the game’s first score. Virginia State responded with a layup of their own before junior center Noel Brown scored inside off the dish from Bishop.
For the next six minutes the Colonials held a narrow lead as both offenses traded scores. With 12 minutes to go in the first half, the home crowd got to their feet when graduate guard E.J. Clark threw an alley-oop that Brown slammed home with force.
GW managed to hold on to a a six point lead through much of the first half as fouls started to rack up for both squads heading into halftime.
With six minutes to go, Bishop found senior forward Hunter Dean under the basket for an easy dunk. Dean netted nine points and grabbed four rebounds during the game, even though Caputo said he was on a minutes restriction following an offseason plagued by injury.
“His style is as a rebounder but also his versatility on offense, him being able to move the ball, get guys open and create for everybody and him just being so athletic makes it convenient to play on the run,” senior guard Brendan Adams said of Dean. “He’s a really versatile guy that helps us in many ways.”
Adams also saw the court for the first time this season after missing the exhibition game due to injury. In conjunction with Bishop, he was at the helm of the GW backcourt throughout the game. The senior guard finished with 15 points and a career high four 3-pointers.
With just two minutes to play in the first half, Adams knocked down a corner three to give GW their largest lead yet at 40-25. The Colonials would end the half with a trip to the line where Bishop uncharacteristically missed three straight free throws, resulting in a halftime score of 43-30.
Early in the second half, the game would tighten to as little as eight points before a massive Colonial surge put the game well out of reach. After a foul was called under the basket on Virginia State junior forward Tremere Brown with 13 minutes to go, GW launched a 28-9 run that extended their lead to a game-high lead of 32 with four minutes to go.
Caputo attributed the second half surge to an increase in fast breaks and cohesion between his starting guards.
“I think we did a good job running right?” Caputo said. “And we took advantage of them there. I think anytime JB has the ball good things happen. And you just try to mix it up with him and Brendan.”
As the clock winded down, Virginia State kept up an aggressive offensive attack while Caputo cycled out his starters for reserve players. The colonials held the trojans at an arms length, holding the lead off their offensive run.
The Colonials stole the ball four times in the second half and scored 11 points off of offensive rebounds, reflecting an intense level of hustle.
“This group has been great, you know, super high care factor,” Caputo said. “Attentive, wants to be good, no issues, no attitudes, no selfishness. And they’re all trying to become good players and all want to win, which is really important.”
As the second half drew to a close, both teams found themselves in the foul bonus and took numerous trips to the line. The Colonials shot just 15 for 27 from the stripe, a far cry from their 81 percent success in the exhibition versus Western Connecticut State.
As Caputo’s inaugural season gets underway, his squad started with a decisive win at the Smith Center. The Colonials will host Howard Friday at 6 p.m.