WASHINGTON- No. 17 George Washington slipped past Saint Louis 69-64 in overtime tonight in an Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball game at the Smith Athletic Center. The Colonials had to overcome a four-point deficit with 2:15 to play to stay unbeaten in conference play.
"We played hard tonight, and I respect that, but we didn't play particularly well considering that we had a week to get ready for this game," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "We weren't intimidated by the surroundings, the opponent or the situation, but we weren't sound in the last two minutes of the game or in overtime, so it's another frustrating loss."
Saint Louis began the second half with a 7-0 run to build its largest lead at 32-23 as freshman guard Kevin Lisch drained a trey, junior center Ian Vouyoukas converted a lay-up and Danny Brown converted a fastbreak lay-up. The Colonials countered with heightened defensive pressure and reclaimed the lead 41-40 on Danilo Pinnock's traditional three-point play. GW built the lead to 50-42 on forward Omar Williams' triple with 4:54 left, but SLU wasn't done.
The Billikens used back-to-back treys from Brown and Lisch to climb back within 50-48, and Liddell put the Bills on top with a steal, lay-up and one free throw after an intentional foul was called. The Bills couldn't convert on the possession that resulted from the intentional foul, but went ahead 54-50 when Lisch buried another trey at the 2:15 mark.
GW's Williams made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:56 to play, and the Bills' Liddell missed a 17-foot jumper. Williams again made 1-of-2 tosses with 1:09 to play, and the Bills' Brown missed a trey out of the left corner. Liddell rebounded the miss, but was called for a travel when he was pushed to the floor. Williams then made a drive down the lane as he threw a shot high off the glass to tie the game with 22 seconds left. SLU had the last shot to win the game, and Liddell drove to the goal off the right baseline and kicked it out to Brown for a wide-open threeball, but the sophomore guard lost the handle on the ball as he went up to shoot it.
The Colonials took control of the overtime by scoring the first six points of the extra session. SLU was still hanging around when Brown buried a triple to keep the Bills within 62-59 with 2:16 remaining. GW star Pops Mensah-Bonsu missed two free throws, but Pinnock claimed the rebound and was fouled. He made only 1-of-2 free throws, and GW led 63-59 with 1:44 left. After a SLU turnover, Pinnock jammed home a rebound off Maureece Rice's errant trey, and the game was essentially over when the SLU bench was enraged over the lack of a goaltending call on Liddell's floater with 43 ticks left.
In a grind-it-out first half as each team struggled to shoot the ball from the field, the Billikens built a 25-19 lead with 3:21 remaining on Ian Vouyoukas' dunk against the Colonials' fullcourt pressure. But that was the Bills' final points of the half as SLU missed two front ends of 1-and-1s. GW went scoreless from the field for the final 6:34, but managed to knock in five free throws to close the gap to 25-23 at the break. It was the third time this season that SLU carried a lead to halftime against a Top 25 team.
Pinnock recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 12 boards for George Washington (11-1, 2-0). Williams finished with 10 points as did guard Carl Elliott. The Colonials shot 44.6 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from the arc and 60.7 percent from the line.
Brown led the Bills with a career-high 23 points and a career-high five treys. Liddell recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, while matching his career high with six assists. Lisch was the other Bill in double figures with 11 points. The Billikens shot 39.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from deep and 33.3 percent (5-15) from the line. SLU also hurt itself with 20 turnovers.
Saint Louis (7-7, 1-1) hosts Massachusetts on Sat., Jan.14, at 7 p.m. at the St. Charles Family Arena.
