By Eli Brown
GW Men’s Basketball (5-0) beat UMBC (3-2) 89-52 on Wednesday Night in the Smith Center. This is the second time in three years that the Revs have gotten off to a 5-0 start under Head Coach Chris Caputo.
The return of Garret Johnson continued to be vital for GW Wednesday night as he led the team with 16 points in just 20 minutes of play.
“I thought we did a good job,” said Coach Caputo about the win, emphasizing that he thought the Revs’ “defense in the first half was…very, very good”.
In addition to leading the Revs in scoring Wednesday, Johnson has been their leading scorer since making his season debut against American last week. Caputo praised Johnson’s performance thus far this season after the game saying, “Our ceiling gets raised tremendously when we have him”.
Garrett Johnson Attempts Contested Layup in Wednesday’s Game (Photo by: GW Athletics)
Another star in Wednesday night’s game for the Revs was center Rafael Castro, who marked his first double double of the season with 13 points and 15 rebounds. A strong performance after being named A-10 co-player of the week.
GW’s depth was on full display Wednesday night, with 12 players getting into the action Wednesday, 10 of whom played more than 10 minutes, none of whom played more than 24.
On the increased depth, Rafael Castro said, “It definitely feels great, you know, we get a breather… last year, I was I playing probably 30, 35 minutes, it took a lot of a toll on my body”
Right from the tip-off, GW was in control of the game as they jumped out to a 19-7 lead over the Retrievers in the first 10 minutes of play. GW’s lead only grew throughout the first half ending the half with a 30 point lead over UMBC, 47-17.
When play returned, it appeared that the second half would be a repeat of the first when GW took a game high 39 point lead, 58-19, after just five minutes of play. From there UMBC would show its fight,cutting the lead to 26, 74-46, with seven and a half minutes to go. It all proved to be too little, too late as the Revs would extend their lead up to 37 by the end of the game, beating the Retrievers 89-52.
GW Men’s Basketball will take on the McNeese State Cowboys in the Cayman Islands on Sunday, November 23rd at 5pm.
