George Washington University

March 6, 2012

Box Score | Box Score

GW Coach Lonergan Post-Game at Dayton with Byron Kerr (3/6/12)

GW Athletic Director Patrick Nero Halftime at Dayton with Byron Kerr (3/6/12)

DAYTON, Ohio - Junior David Pellom's fifth double-double in six games wasn't enough to keep George Washington men's basketball's season alive in a 67-50 loss at Dayton in the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship First Round at UD Arena.

The loss ends GW's season at 10-21 overall under first-year head coach Mike Lonergan. Dayton improves to 20-11 overall and will face third-seeded Xavier in the A-10 Championship quarterfinals on Friday at 9 p.m.

Pellom scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double in six games and his sixth double-double of the season.  He made 7-of-13 field goals to finish at 68.5 percent (122-178) from the floor for the season to set a new GW program record, which was previously held by GW's all-time rebounding leader, Joe Holup, in 1955-56 when he shot 64.7 percent from the field.

Junior Lasan Kromah chipped in nine points and three assists in 30 minutes, and senior Tony Taylor wrapped his sterling career with six points and three assists in 35 minutes.  Taylor completes his 121-game career ranking 19th on GW's all-time scoring list with 1,345 points and fourth all-time in assists with 486.

Dayton was led by Devin Oliver's career-high 19 points and eight rebounds, and Second Team All-Atlantic 10 selection Kevin Dillard's 13 points and game-high eight assists.  Paul Williams and Josh Parker added 10 apiece for the Flyers, including eight late points from Parker that helped clinch the Flyers' victory.

Trailing by 14 at the break, GW quickly sliced the deficit to single digits and threatened to pull within a possession of the lead on several occasions.  Kromah closed the gap to 35-30 with 15:18 remaining, but his costly giveaway led to an Oliver fast-break layup.

The Colonials continued to battle despite falling behind by 11 at 48-37 with 8:42 to play.  A series of four free throws from Pellom and Bynes, coupled with a Kromah steal-and-assist for a Pellom layup out of a full-court press again trimmed the margin to five at 48-43 with 7:05 remaining.

However, Chris Johnson buried his lone three-pointer of the game for an eight-point Dayton advantage, then Parker answered a Pellom dunk with a triple to push the difference to nine at 54-45 with 5:28 to play.  GW would get no closer as Parker hit another triple and Dayton closed on a 13-5 run.

GW started 5-of-9 from the field and was within 17-12 at the under 12-minute media timeout, but made just 2 of its last 15 shots and was limited to 29 percent shooting in the first half to trail 31-17 at the break.  The Flyers made half their shots in the opening period, as well as 10-of-11 free throws.