George Washington's Senior Night, like most of their season, ended in frustration as the Colonials fell to La Salle 60-56 at the Smith Center Wednesday night.
It appeared that the Explorers would cruise to victory as they held a 57-47 lead with 3:17 to go. But the Colonials ripped off the next nine points, getting to within 57-56 on a Tony Taylor jumper with 21 seconds to play. George Washington had the chance to tie or take the lead after La Salle's Tyreek Duren made one of two foul shots with 16 seconds to go. But Taylor couldn't connect on a jumper, and after Duren split a par at the line again to make the score 59-56 to La Salle, the Colonials' last chance to tie the game went begging when John Kopriva turned the ball over.
The loss dropped George Washington to 10-19 overall (5-10 in the Atlantic 10) ahead of Saturday's regular-season finale at Dayton. The Colonials remain in 12th place in the Atlantic 10, a game ahead of 13th-placed Rhode Island for the last spot in next week's conference tournament.
Wednesday's game was the final home appearance for GW seniors Taylor, Jabari Edwards, Aaron Ware, and Michael Conward. Taylor finished the game with six points, seven assists and six turnovers on 2-for-11 shooting. Edwards was held scoreless over 10 minutes, recording a rebound, a steal, a block, and two turnovers. Ware recorded 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting, while Conward, a walk-on, played three minutes and missed the lone field goal and both foul shots that he took. All four started the game.