A couple of weeks ago I watched George Washington defeat Dayton in an overtime thriller. The Colonials looked like a team ready to make a run in the conference and contend for a title.
What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Yesterday Richmond (15-12. 8-6) handed the Colonials (17-10, 7-7) its fourth consecutive loss while getting its third win in its last four games.
Richmond followed the simple plan which has been proven to be effective against GW lately. Make the Colonials not named Kevin Larsen make shots. The Spiders held GW to 9-22 shooting in the second half, 1-7 from 3-point range en route to their victory.
Richmond used effective double teams on Larsen to get the ball out of his hands early and often yesterday. Larsen wound up with 16 points and Kethan Savage lead GW with 18 on 7-12 shooting from the floor.
No other Colonial made more than one shot from the floor. The rest of the team went a combined 4-20 from the floor. Brutal.
ShawnDre Jones continued to impress with another solid performance. Jones was efficient on the offensive end, going 6-10 from the floor and finishing with 14 points. The energetic guard seemed to be in the middle of everything for the Spiders from the first time he checked in the game until the final horn sounded.
Jones has an opportunity to become a really strong player in the A-10 over the next couple of years. He plays very hard and has a knack for making plays.
TJ Cline lead the Spiders with 16 points and hit on 4 out of 6 3-pointers. Cline was an effective passer out of the high post vs. GW’s variety of defenses. Richmond has a nice pick and roll option with Cline which it turns into a a pick and pop frequently. When Cline is hitting from the outside, the Spiders have really nice offensive balance.
After taking a 2-point lead into the half, the Spiders stretched out their lead to 11 midway through the second half. GW used a nice run lead by Savage to cut the lead to 4 2:23 to go but the Colonials could not get any closer. In fact, GW didn’t make another shot for the rest of the game.
A couple of weeks ago Richmond wasn’t doing much and GW looked like a contender. But what a difference a couple of weeks can make.
