Please allow me to start this recap with another #KroenkeComplaint. The Billikens used to win games and A10 championships all the time #KroenkeComplaints. The Bills entered into tonight’s game against the George Washington Colonials being 0-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Jim Crews wanted his team to get back to the basics after a poor performance against Rhode Island. The Bills focused their offense into getting the ball into the paint of the defense.
After the first TV timeout, GW led the Billikens, 16-11. Sophomore Miles Reynolds jumpstarted the Bills on an 8-0 run with consecutive threes. This gave the Billikens the lead 24-11. The Bills went on a 5 minutes drought.
At halftime, the Billikens were only down to GW 30-26. The Bills turned up the defensive pressure and ended the first half with a total of 8 steals.
After halftime, GW came out and hit two consecutive threes to extend their lead to 36-26. With 13 minutes left in the game, GW lead the Billikens to a score of 47-34. With less than 10 minutes left in the game, GW lead the Billikens to a score of 51-39. Then, the Billikens exploded on a 9-0 run led by a layup followed by a three from junior Mike Crawford. The Billikens trailed 51-48.
After the under 8 minute official timeout, GW jumped on the Billikens and grabbed the lead to 55-48. The Bills tried climbing back into the game and trailed 61-53.
After the under 4 minute TV timeout, the junior Reggie Agbeko nailed two free throws to cut down the GW lead. GW answers with two free throws. With 1:08 left in the game, sophomore Davell Roby hit two free throws to cut the GW lead to two, 62-60. The Billiken defense forced a shot clock violation against GW. Billikens had the ball with 37 seconds left. Crawford hits a three to give the Bills the lead 63-62. With 18.7 seconds left, the Billikens needed just one more stop. That’s exactly what they did as they forced GW to travel. Crawford sealed the deal with a couple of free throws. Billikens won 65-62, which improved the Billiken conference record to 1-1. Crawford led all scorers with 20, and Reynolds added 14 points.
The next game for the Billikens comes this Sunday against the Shaka Smart-less VCU Rams at 2 pm at Chaifetz Arena.
