3:45 p.m. Sorry I didn’t put up the final score: GW wins 78-44. Check www.gwhatchet.com for a full update later and Monday’s issue for even more.
2:57 p.m. Edwards is whistled for a technical foul after throwing down a hard alley-oop from King in transition. They had gone for the same connection on the preceding possession but Edwards had fumbled the ball during the catch. On the defensive possession in between, he blocked a shot. GW leads 76-42 and Edwards suddenly has eight points.
2:54 p.m. And the foul shot rattles in and out. GW is now 10 of 21 from the line.
2:52 p.m. Edwards has caught a little hot streak inside, scoring from close range now on consecutive possessions, first on a pass from Bynes caught with his back to the basket and then after collecting a loose ball in the paint. He was fouled on the second one and will head to the line after a break in the action with his team leading 73-36 and 3:15 on the clock.
2:47 p.m. Hobbs signals for a timeout with 5:48 to play after Johnson goes baseline to score and put GW ahead 67-33. Kromah hit a three a few possessions back and the Colonials’ defensive pressure is creating a fair amount of turnovers and miscues from West Georgia in the last few minutes.
2:39 p.m. The Colonials lead 61-32 with less than nine to play, their last basket coming after redshirt sophomore Jabari Edwards grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up for two. Ware had a nice drive a few minutes ago, pushing it toward the basket from the left of the key and kissing a left-handed runner off the glass while being fouled. He missed the free throw.
2:33 p.m. Katuka gets his own rebound and scores and then Bynes gets a steal, pushes it solo against two defenders, and pulls up at the free-throw line to drain a jumper. The Colonials lead 57-30 now, with Kromah leading all scorers with 11 points. The Wolves have made just eight of 38 shots from the field and have been outscored 23-7 since the break.
2:28 p.m. More impressive plays by the freshmen: Bynes just completely blew past a defender and through the defense to score on a contested layup and Kromah got a steal in the backcourt and took it to the hoop for a breakaway dunk. GW leads 50-28 with a dozen minutes left.
2:23 p.m. Pellom just absolutely stuffed a layup attempt and then stole the ball in transition on consecutive possessions. King found him in the paint on the second offensive possession, but Pellom seemed caught off guard and rushed an awkward attempt from close range that missed.
2:19 p.m. We’ve got an official timeout (and Pita Pit dance contest!) with GW leading 41-25 with 15:49 to play. Pellom just stole the ball near midcourt with one of the loudest-sounding slaps of the day and then pushed the ball to the other end, only to lose his handle as he went up for the layup and have the ball float out of bounds.
Also, to nobody’s surprise, a little kid won the dance contest.
2:13 p.m. Katuka gets fed the ball inside for his third basket of the game and GW leads 38-25 just inside of the 18-minute mark. Johnson had a particularly spirited last few possessions, flying in for an offensive rebound and then getting fouled on a shooting attempt and hitting both shots. On the other end, he swatted a West Georgia layup attempt off the backboard after it had hit the glass and was called for goaltending.
2:01 p.m. After one half of play, GW leads West Georgia 34-23, with Hollis leading the charge with nine points and seven rebounds. Kromah is second among all scorers with seven points and Bynes, who has been running the point at times even with King on the floor, has four rebounds. Three Colonials – Bynes, Hollis and Johnson – have two assists apiece.
Hobbs has talked at multiple points in recent months about the excitement surrounding this year’s team and the type of up-tempo, energetic style of play he wants to utilize, much like that employed by his most successful GW teams. While West Georgia likely does not offer the same level of opposition that the Colonials will encounter during the regular season, GW looks good for its part and is definitely exhibiting the kind of style and energy that Hobbs has said he is seeking.
The freshmen, aside from the injured Warren, have all gotten fairly extended looks on the floor. Kromah has shown no hesitation to shoot the ball and has also created numerous opportunities for himself to score. Bynes has gotten off to a fairly good start running the point, turning and pushing the ball in transition when he’s gotten the chance. He also only has one turnover; King leads the team with three thus far.
1:52 p.m. The teams are heading into the locker room at the half with the Colonials leading 34-23.
1:46 p.m. Our little press table just got a visit from Big George, which is as unnerving as it sounds.
1:43 p.m. A little over three minutes left in the half and GW leads 29-16. Kromah had a nice take to the basket a few possessions back, but his layup rolled off the rim. He slapped his hands together and smiled as he made his way back down the court to play defense. He really doesn’t seem deterred by any of his misses thus far.
1:37 p.m. A bit of a scoring burst from West Georgia has the score at 23-16 now, with the lone GW point since the last update coming on a free throw by Smith. On the last possession, Taylor called for the Colonials’ patented wheel play and Opoku got the ball on the perimeter, bouncing a pass inside to where it looked like he expected Bynes to cut, only no one was there and the Wolves nabbed it for a turnover.
1:31 p.m. It’s 22-9 now at a pay stoppage at the 7:59 mark in the first half. The Colonials have hit seven of their last nine shots, with Kromah leading all scorers with seven points. No Colonial has grabbed more rebounds than Hollis and Ware’s two, with the Wolves actually winning the battle on the boards at this point, 12 to seven.
The team is playing at a very fast but relatively controlled pace thus far. Hobbs has said he wants to bring back the up-tempo, athletic style of years past and that would certainly seem to be the way to describe the team’s play thus far in this exhibition contest.
1:26 p.m. Kromah allows a three on the defensive end, then immediately takes it to the hoop on not one but two consecutive possessions to make it 16-9 with 10:11 to play in the half.
1:24 p.m. Pellom’s free throw misses.
1:22 p.m. Bynes and David Pellom just announced their presence to the GW basketball world. Bynes hit a three from the wing, followed by Pellom pressuring the inbound passer, slapping the ball with his left hand, then grabbing it and taking it to the hoop for a contested layup to 12-6. Pellom was fouled on the play and will take his shot after this official timeout is done.
1:19 p.m. After missing his first shot attempt, a three from the corner, freshman Lasan Kromah takes a second attempt a few possessions later with no hesitation and drains it to put GW up 7-6. His next attempt misses again. “The shooter” is at work.
Also, this is completely irrelevant to anyone that may be reading this, but I must say I’m enjoying the new press table vantage point in the overhang seating. You can really see the floor better and pick up on how each team is running their sets.
1:13 p.m. King takes it to the hoop from the perimeter and finally nets GW’s second basket of the game. On the preceding possession the Colonials missed consecutive put-back opportunities with the crowd ooh-ing and ahh-ing as each one rolled around the rim and out.
Aesthetic notes: Taylor is wearing a white headband, which I don’t remember from last year. Opoku and freshman Bryan Bynes are wearing them as well. Opoku, formerly no. 21, is also wearing jersey no. 44.
1:11 p.m. The Colonials trail the Wolves 4-2 thus far, shooting just 1-of-6 from the floor this far. Their lone basket came when Johnson fed it inside to Katuka.
1:03 p.m. Starters, in 0rder of introduction: senior Damian Hollis, junior Joseph Katuka, freshman Tim Johnson, freshman Dwayne Smith, sophomore Tony Taylor. Also, the players had their arms wrapped around one another during the national anthem. Everyone talks about this team’s chemistry, so there would seem to be a small example of sorts.
12:59 p.m. Head coach Karl Hobbs and his staff just took the floor for the first time to the usual remix of P.O.D.’s “Boom,” yet the traditional bowing toward Hobbs was no where to be seen. The staff, aside from Hobbs, is wearing matching khaki-colored long-sleeve collared shirts and black pants.
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Good afternoon and welcome to the first live blog of the fall, as the GW men’s basketball team hosts West Georgia in a preseason exhibition contest. Today’s contest offers the first in-game glimpse at this year’s Colonials, a chance made all the more interesting by the fact that six of this year’s players are freshmen. One would expect that all five healthy newcomers – center Daymon Warren is still sidelined with a finger injury – should see the floor today.
Also of interest will be the new roles some of the returning players will be asked to fulfill. Junior Joseph Katuka, a 6-foot-11 center from Nigeria, will likely be asked to fill the void left in the post by the graduation of Rob Diggs, while senior standout Damian Hollis will be leaned on more than ever. Sophomore Aaron Ware, an athletic 6-foot-5 slasher, is someone to keep an eye on as well in his second season. Sophomore Tony Taylor and redshirt junior Travis King will likely man the backcourt once again, though they may share duties with freshman Bryan Bynes at times.
Fans are still filtering in as we approach two minutes until tipoff. We’ll have starting lineups and in-game updates for you along the way.
