PEORIA, Ill. – George Washington men’s basketball shoots to extend its winning streak to three games when it visits Bradley at Carver Arena on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET. GW will look to avenge a narrow 67-66 loss to Bradley at the Charles E. Smith Center last December 15, a game which the Colonials led by eight points midway through the second half, but surrendered the lead and failed to find a game-winning basket with two shots on the final possession.
Last season’s outcome in the district marked the first time the home team lost in the five-game series that Bradley now leads 3-2. The Braves won home games in 1939 and 1999, while the Colonials posted home wins in 1940 and 1998.
GW has won back-to-back games for the first time since mid-January 2012 following a 54-53 win at James Madison on Wednesday and 67-55 victory over Manhattan on Sunday. The Colonials will seek their second three-game win streak under Coach Mike Lonergan and first since going 3-for-3 in capturing the Progressive CBE Classic’s Bowling Green Subregional title Nov. 21-23 last season.
Senior forward Isaiah Armwood had a career-high 23 points and senior guard Lasan Kromah matched his season-high with 18 as GW took Manhattan, 67-55, in the 18th annual BB&T Classic on Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center. Armwood added nine rebounds and six blocks to help GW move above .500 for the first time this season and snap a two-game slide at the BB&T Classic. Freshman Patricio Garino scored 10 points, but made his biggest contribution on the defensive end as he helped hold Manhattan’s leading scorer George Beamon to 3-of-13 shooting and just nine points – 10 below his average. 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.
Since being reinserted into the starting lineup for the Hofstra game, senior Lasan Kromah has responded with efficient basketball. In his last four games, Kromah is averaging 15.3 points on 64.9 percent shooting (24-37) from the field, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 28.5 minutes. Kromah currently ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage at 58.6 percent (34-58). Freshman Kevin Larsen has also played well over his last four games, averaging 11.0 points on 60 percent shooting (18-30), 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26.0 minutes.
Armwood enters Tuesday’s game tied for 10th in the nation with 3.0 blocks per game. His eight blocks at Boston Univ. are the tied as the sixth-most in a game in NCAA Division I this season, while his six rejections versus Manhattan are tied as the 19th-most in the NCAA.
Bradley has nearly reached its win total from 2011-12 (seven) with a 5-2 start to its 2012-13 campaign. The Braves opened with victories in their first three games and five of their opening six contests before dropping a close 74-66 decision to No. 3 Michigan – the highest ranked team to ever play at Carver Arena – on Saturday.
BU is 3-1 at home with easy wins over Eastern Illinois (76-53), Texas-Pan American (78-61) and Tennessee-Martin (80-57), and is 2-1 on the road with victories at IUPUI (79-72) and Central Michigan (82-65) along with an 82-63 loss at USF.
Second-year head coach Geno Ford relies heavily on a rotation of seven players, five of whom helped the Braves edge the Colonials last season. Walt Lemon, Jr. averages a team-best 13.4 points after hanging a game-high 22 points and the game-winning three-pointer on GW in 2011-12, while returner Jake Eastman has assumed a starting role and adds 10.0 points after he hit four triples off the bench against the Colonials last season.
Dyricus Simms-Edwards (9.9 ppg, 31.0 mpg), Jordan Prosser (9.0 ppg, 20.1 mpg) and Jalen Crawford (6.1 ppg, 20.1 mpg) also provide key minutes as returners. Transfer Tyshon Pickett and sixth-year senior Will Egolf have both started all seven games, with Pickett leading BU in rebounding (7.3 rpg) while placing second in scoring (12.6 ppg), and Egolf ranking second in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and third in scoring (10.0 ppg) on the squad.
BU’s president Joanne Glasser is a native of Baltimore and a 1973 graduate of George Washington.
GW enters Tuesday’s game with a 3-5 all-time record against current Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) teams. (Bradley – 2-3; Drake – 0-1; Evansville – 0-1; Indiana State – 1-0). Coach Mike Lonergan is 0-1 all-time against the Missouri Valley Conference after last season’s loss to Bradley.
GW will play its eighth game in 21 days when its hosts Kansas State on Saturday, Dec. 8 in its marquee non-conference home contest. The game will be nationally televised by the CBS Sports Network and is the annual BUFF OUT game presented by RCN.
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