November 17, 2006
BOX SCORE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Longwood University led 35-27 at halftime before host and defending Atlantic 10 Conference regular season champion George Washington University rallied for a 74-60 men’s basketball victory Friday night at the Smith Center in Washington, D.C.. The Lancers (2-2) led the entire first half and nearly half of the second half, led by senior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) with a double-double of 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The unbeaten Colonials (3-0) were led by Maureece Rice with a career-high 23 points and Rob Diggs with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds, also career-highs. Longwood will play its fourth game in eight days on Monday, November 20, at the University of Richmond beginning at 7 p.m..
Longwood jumped ahead early with the first four points of the game as junior Lamar Barrett/Providence, R.I. (St. Andrews) made a jumper at 18:20 and Sumter added two free throws at 17:29. Rice finally put GW on the board at 16:24 with a three-point field goal, but the Lancers responded with a 12-6 run to lead 16-9 at 12:46 on a three-pointer from junior Brandon Giles/Gaithersburg, Md. (Magruder). Sumter scored five points during the run, including his own three-pointer. The Colonials, however, answered with five-straight points to close to within 16-14 at 11:44 only to see the visitors run-off eight unanswered points to lead 24-14 with 9:41 left in the first half. Sumter tallied five more points, including another trey, and senior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute) finished the run with three-pointer as well.
Sumter gave Longwood its largest lead of the game at 34-22 with just 2:59 left before halftime on another jumper as the 6-5 guard-forward tallied 17 first-half points. Barrett added another three-pointer as the Lancers made five during the opening 20 minutes. George Washington managed to narrow the margin to eight points at the intermission with a 5-1 run over the final 2:14, though it was Sumter’s free throw with 17-seconds left made it 35-27 at the break.
Longwood extended its advantage early in the second half, leading by double-digits again at 39-28 with 18:37 on the clock after an offensive rebound follow dunk by sophomore Kirk Williams/White Plains, N.Y. (Woodlands). The Colonials came charging back with six-straight points, though the Lancers still led 41-36 at 14:39 on a free throw by Morgan. GW finally caught the visitors at 41-41 with 12:11 remaining on a tip-in basket as Longwood had the lead for the first 27:48 of the contest.
George Washington took its first lead at 11:38 on a three-pointer by Rice that began a 22-4 run to secure the hard-fought home win. Diggs scored six points during the run while Rice added five points to the decisive second-half spurt that opened a 63-45 margin at 5:38. The Lancers refused to quit, however, and battled back to within 70-58 with just 1:19 left as Williams scored eight points. Rice finished the scoring for the Colonials with a layup at 0:25 before head coach Karl Hobbs emptied his bench with just 10-seconds on the clock.
Sumter finished with 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for his sixth career double-double to lead Longwood, adding five steals and two blocks in 38 minutes. Morgan had 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Williams contributed 12 points – all scored in the second half for the Lancers. Barrett added nine points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Giles dished out four assists to go with his three points. LU shot 41% (21-51) from the field, including 54% (13-24) in the first half, 29% (5-17) on three-point field goals (0-7, second half), and 65% (13-20) at the free throw line. The Lancers did commit 22 turnovers that led to 27 points for GW who also had a 39-35 edge in rebounding for the game.
Rice scored a game-high 23 points, also a career-high, to lead George Washington, including 3-4 on three-pointers, while Diggs added 22 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for his own double-double – also career-high totals. Carl Elliott was limited to nine points after entering the contest with an average of 27.0, adding seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. GW shot 39% (25-64) from the field, including 22% (4-18) on three-pointers, and 77% (20-26) at the line.
It was Longwood’s first-ever game against George Washington, a program that finished 27-3 a year ago while winning the A-10 regular season title (16-0) and advancing to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament. The Colonials have won 67 games (67-23) over the past three seasons and had won their first two games this year by an average margin of 29 points in victories past Boston University and Dartmouth. The contest was also witnessed by veteran Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan who spoke briefly with Lancer head coach Mike Gillian afterwards outside the team lockerroom.
