Finally, Boardwalk Hall is really alive. Let's get this thing rolling.
The post reads from top to bottom, instead of from bottom to top as I've done in the past. So if you're following live, you might want to click the "Permalink" button and just refresh that page.
Saint Joseph's
F 52 Rob Ferguson
F 34 Ahmad Nivins
G 23 Garrett Williamson
G 13 Darrin Govens
G 12 (as such) Pat Calathes
George Washington
F 42 Dokun Akinbaye
F 23 Regis Koundjia
G 33 Maureece Rice (who gets by far the biggest cheer from the GW fans -- the Philly native's family is surely here)
G 22 Damian Hollis
G 23 Carl Elliot
This is by far the biggest crowd we've seen yet. On the whole, it's very pro-Hawks, but the Colonials' fans are loud too.
A St. Joe's student section of 40 or so is behind the Hawks' bench, while a bigger GW student section -- I'd say 50, going up more rows but across fewer seats -- is behind the Colonials' bench. I count five of the oversized yellow foam tricorner hats that have become a fashion staple in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of D.C. in recent years.
19:28 1st: Akingbade swats Garrett Williamson's drive to the basket.
18:33 1st: Rice opens the scoring with a drive to the basket. The refs
17:28 1st: Akingbade hits a jumper, it's 6-0 GW and Phil Martelli calls timeout.
16:48 1st: A jumper by Carl Elliot makes it 8-0. The teams are getting up and down the floor a lot, which is exactly what St. Joe's doesn't want.
16:27 1st: Ahmad Nivins hits two free throws to get St. Joe's on the board.
16:08 1st: Rob Ferguson gets whistled for his first foul of the night.
15:49 1st: D.J. Rivera hits a long 2. Elliot replies with a 3 and it's 13-4 GW.
15:20 1st: Media timeout. The St. Joe's student section has moved from behind the bench to the corner at that same end of the floor. There are quite a few more of them than there were earlier. And I now count six foam tricorners in the stands, not all of which are being worn by GW students. The Colonials' fans have definitely brought it tonight.
Sorry for dropping this all on you at once, but the wireless internet went haywire for a bit just after tip.
14:07 1st: About tempo. GW is 166th at 66.9 possessions per 40 minutes, which might not seem all that great. St. Joe's, however, is 296th at 62.8 possessions per 40 minutes, which is a fairly big difference.
12:16 1st: Eight of those hats. 15-6 GW.
10:50 1st: Govens hits a 3 to make it 17-9. At the oter end, Elliot (I think -- it happened really fast, as GW would want) drove to the hole and Nivins blocked his shot into the glass, bringing the St. Joe's fans to their feet.
10:04 1st: St. Joe's has cut the deficit to 17-11. GW Karl Hobbs is none too pleased, and calls time.
8:27 1st: Govens knocks it away from Elliot, grabs the ball off the floor and takes it for a layup. 17-15 GW.
7:02 1st: The GW students have been forced up to the upper deck, I presume by arena security. Man, I hate it when that happens. There's plenty of seats to allow them down.
5:46 1st: Rob Ferguson had a chance to tie the game, but missed the second of two free throws. 19-18 GW.
5:17 1st: Carl Elliot drives to the basket, and from pretty much under the backboard throws it up off the glass and in. He was fouled on the way (hence the awkward shot), and he makes the free throw. 22-18 GW.
4:51 1st: Injury timeout. It's Koundjia, who's holding his arm while walking off under his own power. Applause all around. And for those of you who care about this sort of thing, the man who blew the whistle is Joe DeMayo.
3:46 1st: Rice coolly sinks a 3 from the top of the key. 25-18 GW.
3:35 1st: Media timeout. One of the non-students with the big tri-corner hats was just on the jumbotron. There are six GW students behind the basket at the Horseshoe end, one of whom has an enormous inflatable kangaroo on his shoulders. Sweet.
3:09 1st: Rice hits another 3, this one from the left side, and it's 28-20. Rice has a game-high 10.
2:39 1st: Rice throws an alley-oop for Diggs, who can't get up for the jam, but after coming back down he gets a layup in. 30-20 GW, and Phil Martelli calls time.
1:48 1st: Koundjia is back in and gets a nice ovation from the GW fans. The Colonials force St. Joe's to call time instead of giving up a five-second violation on the inbounds play.
0:25.6 1st: With two on the shot clock, Koundjia inbounds the ball to Carl Elliot, and D.J. Rivera fouls Elliot as soon as he catches the ball. Geez.
The Colonials do not hold for last shot. St. Joe's takes a while to get up the floor, and Carter has to launch what ends up being an airball. It's halftime, and an impressive GW leads 33-21.
Stats: Yikes. St. Joe's shot 22.7 percent from the field in the first half (5-22) and 1-of-6 from 3. Ahmad Nivins was held to only one basket on two attempts from the field. But his 6-of-8 from the line has him as the Hawks' leading scorer with eight points. St. Joe's has 10 turnovers to a measly three assissts.
GW shot 48.1 percent from the field (13-27) and 3-of-7 from 3. Rob Diggs is the leading scorer with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting; all the makes were inside the arc. GW has eight turnovers to ten assists.
33 possessions in the half for St. Joe's, 32.375 for GW. So we're looking at a tempo that is definitely closer to the Colonials' than the Hawks'.
19:36 2nd: Pat Calathes opens the half with a 3. Good sign. 33-24 GW.
18:56 2nd: Calathes drives to the basket for a layup, 33-26. Much better from Calathes, and St. Joe's, to start the half.
18:16 2nd: Joe DeMayo rather emphatically whistles Koundjia for a charge. St. Joe's fails to score on the ensuing possessions. 34-28 GW.
16:15 2nd: Govens hits a 3 from the left side to make it 34-31 and wake the St. Joe's students up.
15:48 2nd:The ball goes out of bounds to St. Joe's, and we have a media timeout. The wireless internet has gone spotty again
15:32 2nd:Ferguson misses a 3 from the left that would have tied it.
14:06 2nd: A lack of a travel by GW and a foul on D.J. Rivera have the St. Joe's fans upset at DeMayo. But he whistles the Colonials for a travel a few seconds later. Pretty much all the Hawks fans are referring to DeMayo by name, and he certainly does ref a lot of their games.
11:46 2nd: After a prolonged scrum for a loose ball, Damian Hollis gets whistled for a foul and we have a media timeout. Which lets me bring up something I've wanted to mention all night: GW's mascot. Because he's one of two George Washington mascots in D.C.
Here's the only picture of him I could find on Google Images. And here's the other George, a version somewhere between seven and 10 feet tall who runs down the first base line at Washington Nationals games à la the Sausage Races in Milwaukee. To give you a better iidea of how big he is, check out this picture.
I think the Colonials' version is rather underwhelming. But the team's offense is not -- it just went up 41-31 with 10:15 left in the game. It does not look good for the Hawks.
10:01 2nd: A St. Joe's fan behind me yells, "Come on, guys, you aren't freshmen anymore!" Well, they are, and I think they might be showing a bit of fatigue at the moment, because GW is running them hard.
9:30 2nd: Diggs banks in a driving layup and it's 43-31. St. Joe's throws the ball out of bounds.
1:22 2nd: After Williamson steals it and Hollis blocks his drive without a whistle, Elliot gets it on the break and is away for a layup. 52-43 and it's pretty well over now.
8:37 2nd: Williamson drives to the basket for a layup and gets the and-one on Koundjia. The free throw is good and it's 43-34. At the other end steal, a drive by Rivera, Hollis blocks it but Akingbade fouls Rivera going up. First free throw good. Second off the front iron. But it ends up with St. Joe's as Elliot can't push the rebound to a teammate.
8:03 2nd: Nivins forces his way for a layup. Off the inbounds, a travel on GW. 43-37. Hold the phone.
7:26 2nd: Media timeout after Rivera committs what a guy behind me loudly describes as "a weak-[synonym rear end] loose ball foul." There are two empty plastic cups atop the hockey board in front of him, and I will just leave it at that if you don't mind. Here's a stat for which I have to credit this guy, because he told me: Rob Ferguson has yet to score. That's big.
The fan I mentioned earlier is now yelling "We love Bill Conlin!" at the Daily News reporters in front of me. As many readers as the paper can get, I'll take.
6:21 2nd: Ferguson might not have any points, but he now has three fouls. Elliot makes one of two FTs, and GW gets the rebound up 46-37.
3:46 2nd: Rivera grabs a loose ball, and on the break plays a pass behind his back to Nivins who can't hit the half-layup-half-dunk, though he's fouled going up. It's been that kind of night for St. Joe's. Nivins made both free throws, so it's 48-41.
3:14 2nd: Govins plays a bounce pass to Rivera on the right wing and it goes out of bounds.
2:16 2nd: After GW does a really good job of stopping St. Joe's from getting a good look, Rivera finally gets one from three -- and it goes in and out. Calathes fouls Akingbade on the rebound. The first free throw is good, and the second is as well. 50-41 GW.
1:58 2nd: Ferguson finally scores. After missing a 3 from the right corner, he got his own rebound and put it in off the glass. 50-43 GW. Is it a sign of anything that Ferguson's on the board? I'm not sure the Hawks can overcome a 7-point deficit at this point. The hole last night wasn't this big.
0:45.5 2nd: Nivins misses the first of two free throws and makes the second. He had to have both, really. 54-46 GW as Ferguson fouls Travis King. It's Ferguson's fourth. King makes both. 56-46.
0:30.2 2nd: Elliot is whistled late for fouling Govens while shooting a three. Neither side's fans are pleased, and Martelli's just about laughing at it. Govens misses the first, makes the second and makes the third. Karl Hobbs calls timeout for some reason.
0:17.8 2nd: The guy behind the basket with the Kangaroo and his friends are chanting "Ferguson... Ferguson..." It's 57-48 GW.
0:11.6 2nd: The GW students in the upper level chant "We killed the Hawk!" The reply is obvious.
FINAL SCORE: 58-48. So that's it for St. Joe's this season, and that's it for the Philly representation in this year's A-10 Tournament. It will be Xavier-Rhode Island in the early semifinal at 6:30 tomorrow and Saint Louis vs. George Washington in the late game at 9.
