Delaware entered Saturday's contest against George Washington riding a school record nine game win streak, and were fully confident they could walk out the Smith Center at 10-0. In the first half, thanks in large part to Delaware's 6'11 center and former Colonial Collin Goss (15 points, 6 rebounds), the Blue Hens jumped out to a 23-16 lead at the 7:07 mark. Then, George Washington turned up the intensity defensively and ironically, it sparked their offense. The Colonials behind the 3-point shooting of freshmen Jamison Battle and Jameer Nelson Jr, finished the first half on a 13-6 run while holding Delaware to 1-9 to go into the half tied at 29.
The second half was the Armel Potter show. R-senior point guard dominated the Blue Hens, scoring 16 of his game high 19 points in the second half to guide George Washington to their biggest win of the Christian era so far, 66-56, ending Delaware's undefeated run. George Washington held Delaware to 39 percent shooting from the field in the second half while knocking down 44 percent.
Senior forward Arnaldo Toro posted 12 points, 17 rebounds and 3 rebounds and junior guard Maceo Jack added 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assist to pace the Colonials.
Delaware junior guard Nate Darling posted 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assist while sophomore guard Kevin Anderson added 10 points and 5 assist.
TAKEAWAYS -
Armel Potter:
is coming into his own and it's right on time for George Washington. In a win over Delaware, Potter posted his sixth straight game of scoring in double digits with 19 points. However it isn't just his scoring thats causing opponents trouble, it's his playmaking as well. Potter is averaging 4.3 assist per game while only turning it over a little under three times a game. He was a handful for Delaware guards to contain throughout the second half due to his quickness and elite handle as well as the way he controlled the pace of the game to prevent extended runs. Potter has become the engine for GW and the team is better for it.
Colonial Defense:
has been up and down throughout the season, although Saturday, minus the opening run, GW was nearly flawless. The Colonials held Delaware's leading scorer Nate Darling to 3-14 shooting from the field and 1-7 shooting from deep, which was huge, considering Darling came in shooting 50 percent from the field and 47 percent from deep. Same deal with Darlings back-court mate Ryan Allen. Allen was held to 4-13 shooting, 1-5 from 3-point range. As a team they held Delaware to 15 percent from 3-point territory. If the Colonials bring this same level of intensity and execution on the defensive end for the remainder of the season, they will surprise a lot of people throughout college basketball.
