The Massachusetts Minutemen (9-11, 4-3 Atlantic 10) defeated the George Washington Revolutionaries (13-6, 2-4 Atlantic 10) 74-61 on Wednesday night.
The Revolutionaries and the Minutemen both struggled early in the game for shooting and through the first media timeout, both teams combined to score only four points. George Washington had started to figure it all out shortly after the under-sixteen timeout and was able to take a twelve-to-six lead. That lead was short-lived for the Revs as UMass started to find ways to get shots to fall, which led to the Minutemen gaining a thirty-six to twenty-nine at the half.
UMass came out of halftime sluggish, and it let George Washington cut the lead down to one point going into the under-sixteen timeout. After the timeout, the Minutemen were able to grow their lead back out to twelve points which forced a timeout to be called by the Revolutionaries. George Washington was able to cut the lead back down to seven points, but it never got much closer as Rahsool Diggins nailed the dagger three-pointer to seal a thirteen-point win, and the Minutemen’s third-straight win, and their fourth win in their last five games.
The Revolutionaries had two players in double-figure scoring on Wednesday night. Rafael Castro had 23 points and 7 rebounds and Christian Jones had 10 points and 7 assists to round out scorers in double-digits. Gerald Drumgoole Jr. had 6 points and 6 rebounds, Darren Buchanan Jr. had 6 points and 5 rebounds, Trey Autry and Sean Hansen each had 5 points, and Ty Bevins and Dayan Nessah each had 3 points to round out all scorers for George Washington.
UMass had three players in double-figure scoring on Wednesday night. Jaylen Curry had 19 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds, Diggins had 19 points, 4 rebounds, and tied his career-high 4 steals, and Daniel Hankins-Sanford had 10 points and 7 rebounds to round out scorers in double-digits. Daniel Rivera had 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, Malek Abdelgowad had 6 points and 11 rebounds, Marqui Worthy had 5 points, and Jayden Ndjigue and Shahid Muhammad each had 4 points to round out scorers for the Minutemen.
George Washington returns home to the Smith Center to face the Saint Louis Billikens (12-7, 5-1 Atlantic 10) on Saturday, January 25th at 2pm. Massachusetts has a bye week this upcoming weekend but returns to action on Wednesday, January 29th down the Ryan Center to face conference-rival the Rhode Island Rams (14-5, 3-4 Atlantic 10) at 7pm.
Featured Image: Seth Bradley, UMass Athletics
Kaily “KG” Godek is a current student at Western New England University (WNE). She has been a supporter of UMass Athletics for over 15 years. Kaily focuses on both UMass Basketball teams and occasionally on the other Women’s Basketball teams in the conference. While writing for A10 Talk, she works in the athletic department at WNE. When she graduates from WNE she wants to go into either Sports Broadcasting and Journalism or Coaching. You can follow Kaily on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kgumass23.
