GW scoreless in final 3:22 in heartbreaking loss to Xavier, 59-58
George Washington’s final possession was the game in microcosm: The Colonials missed three shots from the paint in the final five seconds. After playing one of its best games under first-year coach Mike Lonergan, GW fell to Xavier, 59-58, before 2,716 at Smith Center.
In trying to topple the perennial Atlantic-10 power, GW got big work from senior point guard Tony Taylor (20 points. five assists) and sophomore wings Nemanja Mikic (19 points) and Lasan Kromah (11 points, 13 rebounds), who had his first career double-double. But the Colonials didn’t have the finishing touch, missing their final six shots and failing to score in the final 3 minutes, 22 seconds after taking a 58-54 lead on two free throws by Taylor.
GW (8-14, 3-5) was bidding for its fifth straight home win. Instead the Colonials suffered their seventh straight loss to the Musketeers (15-7, 6-3). The last GW win over Xavier came in 2005-06 when it ran through the A-10 regular season without a loss.
“We’ve won the league regular season five years in a row,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “We’re gonna get everybody’s best shot. We have some guys in the locker room who have to realize that.”
The winning basket for Xavier (15-7, 6-3) came on a disputed play as guard Tu Holloway (21 points, seven assists, six rebounds) drove into the lane and appeared to shuffle his feet as he hit a delayed, step-back jumper with 30 seconds left.
GW came out ready to play and took a 16-7 lead before Xavier went on a 10-0 run to set the scene for a back-and-forth second half. There were nine lead changes in the final nine minutes.
“We executed the game plan and we played really hard,” Longergan said. “Hate to say it but there have been nights when we didn’t play hard.”
