WASHINGTON – Senior forward Isaiah Armwood led all players with a career-high 23 points, nine rebounds and six blocks as the George Washington men’s basketball team defeated Manhattan, 67-55, in the 18th annual BB&T Classic on Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center.
Armwood made 8-of-12 field goals, hit all seven of his foul shots and added two assists to help GW (4-3) move above .500 for the first time this season and snap a two-game slide at the BB&T Classic. The victory evens the Colonials’ all-time record at the event at 14-14 and comes at the expense of a Jaspers’ team that posted the nation’s best turnaround last year with 21 victories and an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Senior Lasan Kromah chipped in a season-high tying 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 effort at the line.
Freshman Patricio Garino made 5-of-7 free throws and finished with 10 points. The Colonials made 24-of-29 at the line and held a +12 differential at the charity stripe – the difference in the 67-55 final margin.
Garino’s biggest contribution came on the defensive end though, as he helped hold Manhattan’s leading scorer George Beamon to 3-of-13 shooting and just nine points – 10 below his average.
Manhattan (2-4) utilized full-court pressure nearly the entire game and it paid dividends early in the contest as GW had just four field goals through the opening 14 minutes.
The Jaspers’ had their largest lead at 17-10 midway through the first half, but six straight points from freshman Kevin Larsen, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds, and a three-pointer from freshman Kethan Savage brought the Colonials even at 20-20 with 5:16 left in the half.
Savage’s triple halted the slow start as GW made seven of its final nine shots of the half and Armwood scored seven of his 23 over the final 2:47 for a brief three-point lead until Manhattan’s Emmy Andujar hit a late three to knot the score 32-32 at intermission.
Manhattan briefly regained the lead on a pair of Michael Alvarado free throws 25 seconds into the second half, but an Armwood putback on a possession with three offensive rebounds ignited an 11-2 run over the next five minutes that gave GW the lead for good.
The Jaspers came within a possession of the lead just twice more, the last on a Roberto Colonette layup to trim the margin to 52-49 with 4:22 left.
The Colonials responded with seven straight points en route to a game-clinching 15-3 run, which was capped by a Kromah three-pointer for a 67-52 edge with 18 seconds remaining. GW converted 10-of-12 free throws over the final three minutes to grow its lead to double-digits and defeat Manhattan for the third time in five all-time meetings.
GW limited Manhattan to just 7-of-28 shooting (25 percent) in the second half, including 1-of-6 from behind the arc, and 33.9 percent for the game – the third time it has held an opponent to under 35 percent this season.
Armwood and Larsen’s combined 16 rebounds helped the Colonials to their largest rebounding advantage of the season at 41-27, a figure that helped offset 23 giveaways and the Jaspers’ 27-8 edge in bench points.
GW will travel to Peoria, Ill., tomorrow ahead of Tuesday game at Bradley that tips-off at 8:00 p.m. ET. That game can be heard live on FederalNewsRadio.com, RaiseHigh.tv and 1050 AM.
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