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Colonials Take Big First Step With Victory Over the Rams
By Ivan Carter

Win and nothing else matters. That's the vibe floating around the George Washington basketball team following Thursday night's 79-63 victory over Fordham in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 tournament at US Bank Arena.

The Colonials (20-7) took the first step toward winning their first Atlantic 10 tournament championship by dispatching a scrappy but outmanned Fordham squad and will play Temple at approximately 9 p.m. Friday.

The Colonials were thrashed by eventual tournament champion Xavier in last year's semifinals and can't afford a similar result Friday night if they want to earn an NCAA tournament bid for the first time since 1999.

Because Maryland and Georgetown lost crucial games Thursday, George Washington also represents Washington's best hope for landing an invitation to the NCAA tournament when the bracket is unveiled Sunday evening.

"We're trying to win the next game, tomorrow," said forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. "We'll worry about that other stuff later."

Mensah-Bonsu's crisp inside play was a major reason why George Washington outscored Fordham 46-12 in the lane. On the perimeter, point guard T.J. Thompson made 3 of 5 three-point attempts on his way to 17 points.

The Colonials also benefited from the all-around contributions of forward Mike Hall, who made 6 of 7 shots and scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and did a solid job of guarding Fordham's talented freshman, Marcus Stout.

Three Fordham players reached double figures, including guard Jermaine Anderson, who scored 20. The lead changed hands nine times in the first half, but George Washington eventually wore the Rams down by rotating 10 players while mixing man-to-man and zone defenses.

Fordham, which picked up its first Atlantic 10 tournament victory on Wednesday over Duquesne, was held without a field goal for the game's final 8 minutes 4 seconds. George Washington shot 50 percent and scored 22 points off turnovers.

"We just ran out of gas playing a very good basketball team," said Fordham Coach Dereck Whittenburg, a former DeMatha High and North Carolina State star. "That's a 20-win basketball team. I don't even know why we are discussing whether or not they should be in the tournament, and believe me, I've been around, I'm no rookie. I played in the ACC. I know what a tournament team looks like, and that is a tournament team."

The Colonials can present an interesting argument. Since the tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1984-1985 (the field has since been expanded to 65, including play-in teams), no Atlantic 10 team with eight or fewer losses has failed to receive a bid.

However, one year after sending four teams to the tournament, the Atlantic 10 is ranked 17th in the conference Ratings Percentage Index and is in danger of receiving only its automatic bid for the first time since 2000-01.

Richmond Coach Jerry Wainwright, whose team was eliminated by Saint Joseph's on Thursday, believes the Atlantic 10 is getting a bad rap.

"I think the RPI is way out of whack," Wainwright said. "In some conferences, you have teams getting credit for road wins over teams that just aren't very good. . . . You can't tell me that teams in [the A-10's West] division like Saint Joseph's, GW, Xavier and Dayton aren't among the top 75 teams in the country."

Perhaps that explains why GW Coach Karl Hobbs and his players are focusing on getting two more wins. Even with Thursday's game wrapped up, Hobbs frantically was racing up and down the sideline, imploring his players to dig in on defense and make the extra pass on offense.

"I want them to play 40 minutes that way," Hobbs said. "Whether we're up 10, two, whatever. We don't have the luxury of relaxing against anyone. That's what I'm trying to get across to my players. That's what playing basketball at this time of year is all about."

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• 46 points in the lane to 12 for Fordham. That's the game right there. (NT) -- Rambacker, Fri March 11, 2005 09:08:44
  • Right. Like I said, murdered in the middle. I love DW as a coach, but why he played Binns so much mystifies me. I think he'll be a good player, but he was woefully overmatched (Ya'ak would have fared better) and he kept throwing bricks. I'm looking for Michael to be a key future player, but last night the uneven play did not help. (NT) -- Belmont Juice, Fri March 11, 2005 22:01:45
    • I think DW thought Binns matched up better with GW's athletes, who get out on the break and get down the floor like lightning. They were leaving Mush in the dust. (NT) -- Rambacker, Sat March 12, 2005 09:43:08