City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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An injury to junior guard Shavar Newkirk provided a dampening note on an otherwise impressive St. Joe’s comeback, as the Hawks battled back from down double-digits early for a 68-63 win over George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener.

At First…
Saint Joseph’s had serious difficulties guarding the perimeter, allowing a George Washington team that isn’t known as a prolific long-range squad to knock down six of its 12 3-point attempts over the opening 20 minutes. The last one of those, by Collin Smith, gave the Colonials a 33-21 lead with 4:09 left in the half, though the Hawks closed out the period on an 8-2 run to close the gap to six at intermission.

St. Joe’s looked like it would be heading into break the with some serious momentum, after steals by Lamarr Kimble and Shavar Newkirk turned into easy layups the other way before Newkirk swiped yet another pass. But the junior guard’s layup turned into disaster, as he injured his leg on the way to the hoop; unable to complete the bucket, he instead limped off the court and collapsed in pain in the corner.

Turning Point…
The Newkirk injury didn’t end St. Joe’s comeback, as the Hawks tied things up in the first six mintes of the second half and even took a brief one-point lead with 10:39 left on a Kimble 3-point play. GW battled back to go up four with under seven minutes left before Chris Clover came up with back-to-back buckets to tie it up. After several impressive defensive possessions, James Demery found a streaking Brendan Casper to put the Hawks up 61-60 with 3:47 left; Charlie Brown put them in front for good with a triple from straightaway with 2:25 left on the clock.

It was Kimble who hit the back-breaker, a 3-pointer from the right wing with 29.4 seconds to play, putting St. Joe’s up 67-63. The sophomore guard had attempted the exact same shot on the Hawks previous possession, though it was blocked by GW’s Yuta Wantanabe; the Colonial junior wasn’t quite able to get his fingertips on it a second time.

Standout Stars…
George Washington redshirt junior Jaren Sina paced a terrific night for the Colonials from beyond the arc, knocking down five 3-pointers (on eight attempts) to lead four teammates in double figures with 15 points on the night. Freshman forward Collin Smith was also especially impressive, as the 6-10 big man knocked down a pair of triples on his way to a dozen points and 11 rebounds.

SJU had a balanced offensive effort led by 13 points each from freshman Charlie Brown and juniro Lamarr Kimble, who also added five assists without a turnover. Newkirk had 10 points and two assists before his injury.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
20: The Colonials were absolutely dominant on the glass against a Hawks’ squad that’s guard and wing-heavy. The rebounding edge was 24-8 in the first half, and though the Hawks did a better job competing on the glass after halftime, George Washington still ended with a 49-29 rebounding advantage.

12: A George Washington squad which entered conference play averaging only 7.5 3-point makes per game was terrific from beyond the arc, knocking down a dozen 3-pointers on 25 attempts.

25: Minutes for James Demery in his first game back after missing 10 with a stress fracture in his foot. The 6-6 junior wing finished with nine points, four rebounds and four assists (no turnovers), shooting 4-for-10 from the floor in 25 minutes.

Up Next…
Saint Joseph’s (7-5, 1-0 Atlantic 10) @ Rhode Island (9-4, 1-0) -- Tue., Jan. 3, 7 PM