Colonials End Disappointing Season With Loss to Temple
Temple 63, GW 53
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Sunday, March 8, 2009
Before the ball was even thrown into the air to start last night's game, George Washington knew its season would end as soon as the final buzzer sounded, regardless of the outcome. St. Bonaventure's victory over Charlotte earlier in the day ensured that the Colonials would miss the Atlantic 10 tournament for the second straight season.
Knowing its fate was sealed didn't prevent GW from putting forth a strong effort. Unfortunately for the Colonials, effort wasn't enough to overcome a low-scoring start, Temple's three-point shooting and the Owls' relentless rebounding. GW's 63-53 loss at Smith Center capped the Colonials' second straight losing season.
"For me it's very disappointing, obviously," GW Coach Karl Hobbs said about missing the tournament. "When you're accustomed to being at the top of the league, when you're accustomed to competing and having your name involved on the bubble and people talking about you and things like that, and also when you're as competitive as I am, it's extremely difficult."
Temple (19-11, 11-5), which won for the first time at Smith Center since 2002, will be the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
GW (10-18, 4-12) started the game by missing its first seven shots. Though the Colonials seemed to be getting good looks, their shots refused to fall.
Finally, Damian Hollis, the Atlantic 10 co-player of the week, sank a three-pointer to break the drought. Then two possessions later, Rob Diggs converted a pretty alley-oop dunk off a pass from fellow senior Johnny Lee. But of their first 13 field goal attempts that they converted, those were the only two the Colonials converted.
GW would make only eight baskets in the first half, five of them by Hollis, who single-handedly kept the Colonials in the game. He scored 13 of GW's final 14 points of the half and accounted for 17 of the team's 24 first-half points. He finished with 21 points.
