CINCINNATI, March 10 -- Win and nothing else matters. That's the vibe floating around the George Washington basketball team following Thursday night's 79-63 victory over Fordham in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 tournament at US Bank Arena.
The Colonials (20-7) took the first step toward winning their first Atlantic 10 tournament championship by dispatching a scrappy but outmanned Fordham squad and will play Temple at approximately 9 p.m. Friday.
George Washington forward Omar Williams plays tough against Fordham's Mushom Ya'akosi during the Colonials' 79-63 victory. GW improved to 20-7.
(Al Behrman -- AP)
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The Colonials were thrashed by eventual tournament champion Xavier in last year's semifinals and can't afford a similar result Friday night if they want to earn an NCAA tournament bid for the first time since 1999.
Because Maryland and Georgetown lost crucial games Thursday, George Washington also represents Washington's best hope for landing an invitation to the NCAA tournament when the bracket is unveiled Sunday evening.
"We're trying to win the next game, tomorrow," said forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. "We'll worry about that other stuff later."
Mensah-Bonsu's crisp inside play was a major reason why George Washington outscored Fordham 46-12 in the lane. On the perimeter, point guard T.J. Thompson made 3 of 5 three-point attempts on his way to 17 points.
The Colonials also benefited from the all-around contributions of forward Mike Hall, who made 6 of 7 shots and scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and did a solid job of guarding Fordham's talented freshman, Marcus Stout.
Three Fordham players reached double figures, including guard Jermaine Anderson, who scored 20. The lead changed hands nine times in the first half, but George Washington eventually wore the Rams down by rotating 10 players while mixing man-to-man and zone defenses.
Fordham, which picked up its first Atlantic 10 tournament victory on Wednesday over Duquesne, was held without a field goal for the game's final 8 minutes 4 seconds. George Washington shot 50 percent and scored 22 points off turnovers.
"We just ran out of gas playing a very good basketball team," said Fordham Coach Dereck Whittenburg, a former DeMatha High and North Carolina State star. "That's a 20-win basketball team. I don't even know why we are discussing whether or not they should be in the tournament, and believe me, I've been around, I'm no rookie. I played in the ACC. I know what a tournament team looks like, and that is a tournament team."
The Colonials can present an interesting argument. Since the tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1984-1985 (the field has since been expanded to 65, including play-in teams), no Atlantic 10 team with eight or fewer losses has failed to receive a bid.
However, one year after sending four teams to the tournament, the Atlantic 10 is ranked 17th in the conference Ratings Percentage Index and is in danger of receiving only its automatic bid for the first time since 2000-01.
Richmond Coach Jerry Wainwright, whose team was eliminated by Saint Joseph's on Thursday, believes the Atlantic 10 is getting a bad rap.
"I think the RPI is way out of whack," Wainwright said. "In some conferences, you have teams getting credit for road wins over teams that just aren't very good. . . . You can't tell me that teams in [the A-10's West] division like Saint Joseph's, GW, Xavier and Dayton aren't among the top 75 teams in the country."
Perhaps that explains why GW Coach Karl Hobbs and his players are focusing on getting two more wins. Even with Thursday's game wrapped up, Hobbs frantically was racing up and down the sideline, imploring his players to dig in on defense and make the extra pass on offense.
"I want them to play 40 minutes that way," Hobbs said. "Whether we're up 10, two, whatever. We don't have the luxury of relaxing against anyone. That's what I'm trying to get across to my players. That's what playing basketball at this time of year is all about."
Colonials Notes: Thompson has 223 three-pointers, tying him with Shawnta Rogers (1996-99) and Kwame Evans (1993-96) for first place on George Washington's career list.
• XAVIER 83, LA SALLE 70: In Cincinnati, Stanley Burrell and Justin Cage led the Musketeers' balanced attack with 16 points apiece to help the team advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Xavier will play Saint Joseph's tonight.
• SAINT JOSEPH'S 63, RICHMOND 51: Junior Dave Mallon scored a career-high 17 points as the Hawks advanced to the semifinals. Conference co-player of the year Pat Carroll added 16 points for Saint Joseph's (18-10), which has won seven of its last eight games.
• TEMPLE 61, DAYTON 51: The Owls (16-12) used intimidating defense to advance. Mardy Collins scored 17 points for Temple, which shot only 33 percent.
