Defense, rebounding and shooting of Mikic carry Colonials, 60-52
George Washington coach Mike Lonergan inserted Dwayne Smith and Aaron Ware in the lineup early this week to spark the Colonials’ anemic offense. Saturday night when GW found itself in a street fight against physical Charlotte, it also was nice to have two players on the floor who look like NFL tight ends.
With Smith and Ware pounding inside and sophomore Nemanja Mikic scoring from the perimeter, GW won its third straight game in the Atlantic-10, 60-52, before 2,813 at the Smith Center.
While the 6-foot-6, 227-pound Smith (six points, seven rebounds) and 6-5, 208-pound Ware (four points, 10 rebounds) did the dirty work, Mikic (19 points) tallied his season high. In the final four minutes, the 6-8 sophomore hit three big jump shots, one a 3-pointer, as GW (8-11, 3-2) pulled to within a game of first-place Dayton (14-5, 4-1) in the balanced conference.
“We played great defense, overcame horrible free throw shooting [18 of 34], and got a very important home win today,” Lonergan said.
Since moving Smith, a junior, and Ware, a senior, into the lineup, GW has played its best two defensive games of the season. In Wednesday’s 83-65 domination of Richmond, the Colonials held the Spiders to 40 percent shooting. On Saturday, Charlotte (10-8, 2-3) shot 37 percent overall and 22 percent from the arc.
“Our intensity on defense was high throughout the game,” sophomore guard Lasan Kromah (nine points, six rebounds, three steals) said. “We’ve emphasized that a lot in practice.”
The efforts of Smith and Ware were particularly important on the boards, where they helped GW to a 41-36 edge. Lonergan went to the duo in a desperate attempt to find some chemistry in a season that included four straight home losses.
“I told our guys we were a little soft, especially the way we played early in the year. Teams are gonna come after us,” Lonergan said. “I’ve tried everything, tried to play the seniors. Nothing really worked.”
GW looked in trouble in the opening minutes as Charlotte (10-8, 2-3) reeled off 15 straight points and appeared to have the edge inside behind former DeMatha standout, 6-8 junior Chris Braswell (17 points, 13 rebounds). But with their offense sputtering, the Colonials used defense to get back in the game.
After a jumper by point guard Jamar Briscoe (14 points) gave Charlotte a 19-7 lead, the Colonials limited the 49ers to one field goal over the next 10 minutes.
“I’ve tried to tell guys, even if you’re not shooting well, you can win games if you play defense,” Lonergan said. “I’ve never had a team where if we miss shots it effects them so much at the other end. That’s something we’ve really tried to focus on.”
GW scored on its first four possessions of the second half to grab a 30-27 lead and never trailed from that point. A corner three by Briscoe tied it 45-all with 5:13 left. But Mikic came up clutch at the end.
Entering this week, Mikic was mired in a terrible shooting slump, hitting six of his last 36 shots from 3-point range. Against Reichmond, Mikic hit three of six from beyond the arc. On Saturday, he made three of five from the arc and seven of 11 overall.
“I stayed after practice, took some extra shots,” Mikic said. “It worked out.”
After a rough start under first-year coach Lonergan and questions about internal problems and struggles with a new system, GW has rebounded impressively.
“We’ve always been on the same page,” Lonergan said. “People can talk about transition or system or the flex [offense]. To me, it’s a lot of garbage. We’ve got a system we believe in.”
And as a result, GW fans are starting to believe as well.
