No. 11 seed Saint Louis led for the majority of the game, but sixth-seeded George Washington rallied to post a 53-46 win over the Billikens in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Championship on Thursday.
The Billikens conclude the season with a 12-21 record. George Washington advances to tomorrow’s quarterfinal round to face No. 3 Richmond.
Saint Louis jumped out to an early 12-4 lead and led until there was two minutes remaining. The Colonials ended the game on an 11-3 run to post the win.
Freshman forward Jalen Johnson led the Billikens with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and 2-of-4 from long range. Senior guard Mike Crawford scored 15 points in his final game as a Billiken. Junior guard Davell Roby pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds.
SLU held George Washington to just 13 points in the first half on 6-of-26 shooting from the field, 0-of-8 from 3-point range. The Colonials began to heat up in the second half, shooting 46.9 percent in the frame en route to 40 points.
The Billikens staved off several GW rallies in the second half. The Colonials tied the game for the first time with 5:46 left, but Crawford responded with a basket to put the Billikens back on top.
After George Washington took the lead for the first time at the 2:07 mark, Johnson buried a clutch 3-pointer to put the Billikens back on top 46-45. But GW’s Jair Bolden scored on a jumper with 1:26 left, and the Colonials hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win