Washington, D.C. – George Washington came into this game looking to continue where they left off after the win against Manhattan. Vermont came into this game led by their two top scorers, Anthony Lamb (Junior) and Stef Smith (Sophomore). The Catamounts, who lost their last game, would be geared up to win this one.
The story of the first half was the discrepancy in three-point efficiency which helped the Catamounts carry a 38-28 lead into halftime. Vermont finished 6-of-10 in the first half from three while the Colonials hit only 2-of-8. The Colonials were having trouble running their half court offense and were kept in the game by offensive rebounding as their center, Arnaldo Toro, gave the team additional possessions by grabbing five GW’s 13 offensive rebounds in the half compared to Vermont’s two offensive boards. The Colonials were led by Toro in the first half with eight points while the Catamounts were led by Smith and Lamb each with eight points.
George Washington came out in the second half a different team and quickly made an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two. Terry Nolan Jr. then scored his only two points of the game at the free throw line to tie the score at 44. While the intensity on the defensive end increased for the Colonials, their offense eventually stagnated and Vermont was able to go on an 18-point run to stretch the lead to 66-48. The game would eventually end 69-53 in favor of the visiting team.
DJ Williams and Terry Nolan Jr., the two leading scorers for the Colonials struggled shooting from the floor. After a good 3-point shooting outing against Manhattan, Nolan was forced to shoot off the dribble this game and his catch and shoot opportunity weren’t clean passes. He was held to only two points which came from the free throw line, He was 0-of-4 on 3s and 0-of-8 overall from the floor. Williams was inefficient as the Catamounts were able to take him out his game by forcing him to catch and create from the perimeter. He finished with 4-of-17 from the field and scored just eight points. He was also unable to get to the line and managed only four rebounds. The best player on the floor for the Colonials was Toro who managed 11 rebounds, with seven of them on the offensive end. Some of those were rebounds off his misses as he also shot and inefficient 4-of-12 from the field with most of his misses coming around the basket. He did manage to get to the free throw line a fair amount and hit all six of his attempts at the line.
The best player on the floor was Vermont’s Lamb who managed 16 points. His main contribution however was his ability to make quick passes out the post when double teamed. This quick and decisive passing allowed his teammates to move the ball around and the quickness of the pass meant the defense was unable to recover which led to wide open 3-point shots for his teammates. This passing out of the double team is what led to the 18-0 run which effectively ended the game. Lamb also finished with nine rebounds and four blocks playing most times undersized as a 6’6 forward/center.
This article was written by Wyllan Dick, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter. We are looking for those interested in our basketball scout apprenticeship program. For information contact us and forward your resume.
