Game of the Night
Richmond Spiders 98, George Washington Colonials 90 (2OT)
To say Richmond vs. George Washington was a great game would be the understatement of this A10 season. It certainly captivated the audience from start to finish, but might have made fans of the teams involved sick in the process. The offenses found their groove early as both teams went back and forth trading buckets. GW dominated the boards to start, yet Richmond managed to take a slim 42-39 lead into halftime. Once the second half started, things got really wild.
Richmond started off the second half on a nice 7-0 run to take a 49-39 lead. They were able to keep the lead intact until with about 12 minutes to go, then GW came storming back. In the final ten minutes of regulation both teams seemingly went back to trading buckets, neither quite able to separate itself from the other. With just seven seconds to go, Richmond found themselves up three and debating one of the toughest questions in basketball. To foul or not to foul? After fouling on the previous possession, they decided to let this one play out and not commit a foul. It did not pay off. Sophomore guard Paul Jorgensen entered the game for the Colonials and hit a last second three to tie the game at 74 and send it in to overtime! The shot hit backboard, rim, then backboard again before going down, but it went in and that is all that matters.
In overtime GW looked strong to start, but Richmond hit a couple clutch threes to tie it back up at 85. With 20 seconds left GW had a shot to win it, but could not convert. So the game went to double OT! Finally, with tired legs and a couple key players fouled out for both teams, Richmond pulled out the win. They did it by doing what they had failed to do all night, control the glass. Without GW being able to get inside, Richmond made their mark on the second overtime and secured the win.
Despite all five starters scoring in double figures for the Colonials it wasn’t enough. Junior guard ShawnDre’ Jones led the way for the Spiders dropping an impressive 29 points. Marshall Wood and Khwan Fore backed him up nicely scoring 22 and 18 points. Richmond improves to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play. They will have another tough road game Sunday at 3:00 as they take on Saint Bonaventure. As for George Washington, they fall to 15-5 overall and 4-3 in the A10. They also return to action Sunday at 12:00 against George Mason. This thrilling game marked Richmond’s first step in trying to get themselves back on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. While it knocked George Washington from a projected 10 seed in ESPN Joe Lunardi’s bracket, to on the bubble and possibly out for the time being.
