Hollis's Extra Work Pays Off in GW's Victory

George Washington 78, Harvard 63

After a disappointing effort in George Washington's loss to Maryland last weekend, Damian Hollis put in extra work in practice. As a result of his industry, the junior forward turned in one of the best performances of his career.

Hollis matched a career high with 22 points and led the Colonials to a 78-63 victory over Harvard yesterday before 2,205 at Smith Center.

"I've just been [staying] in the gym real late every day and trying to focus on doing what Coach [Karl Hobbs] said, which is taking advantage of plays that they run for me, making moves off movement," Hollis said. "I've just been listening to him, then trying to work on it in practice every day."

Hollis, who had a season-high 17 points by halftime, demonstrated an array of shot-making abilities, from shooting three-point baskets -- he went 3 of 6 from behind the arc -- to powerful dunks.

None of that was evident in GW's 76-53 loss to Maryland last Sunday. Hollis played just 16 minutes in that game, finishing with seven points on 2-of-7 shooting, well below his team-leading 11.2 scoring average.

Despite his lackluster showing against Maryland, Hollis did not come out against Harvard (4-4) looking to score. Early on, he was less concerned with his offensive output than with his team's defense.

"I feel like scoring just happens," Hollis said. "But I was really conscious of defense. I was wondering why . . . we couldn't break away from them."

Harvard kept the game close early, despite missing its best post player, two-time Ivy League rookie of the week Keith Wright, who was out with an illness.

With Wright sidelined, the Crimson became a single-minded jump-shooting team. Of its nine field goals in the first half, two were from goaltending calls on GW, one was a layup and the rest were from behind the three-point arc. Harvard went 12 of 28 overall from three-point range.

Although GW did a better job of taking away perimeter shots after halftime, the Crimson still took more than half of its shots from behind the arc.

"We want to take open shots," Harvard Coach Tommy Amaker said. "It's going to be difficult for us to get a lot of interior shots against their defense with how long and athletic and quick off the feet the players are. . . . And certainly, not having Keith, that's another area that we didn't have to have interior post scoring."

After a 9-0 run to open the second half, GW (4-2) appeared to have the game in hand.

The Colonials took their largest lead less than seven minutes into the second half, when Joseph Katuka's three-point play put them up, 53-32.

But Harvard didn't fold. Jeremy Lin shook off a quiet first half, scoring 10 of his 13 points after halftime to rally the Crimson. Oliver McNally sank a three-point shot with 3 minutes 47 seconds to play to pull Harvard to 62-54.

Hollis made two free throws to push the lead back to double digits, and GW picked up its intensity to seal the win.

"With Harvard, they're just so well coached and they're just so well disciplined that it's almost like they never looked up at the scoreboard," Hobbs said. "They played the same way throughout the game. . . . They forced us to make plays. We wanted to relax and try to coast in and win, and Harvard said, 'No, we're not going to let you do that.' "