George Washington
- Jan 27, 2023
- 7 min read
George Washington Colonials (9-9, 3-2) vs. Dayton Flyers (13-6, 5-1)
Saturday, January 22, 2023 @ 12:30 PM
Washington, DC
Charles E. Smith Center
THE SCHOOL
The George Washington University is a private research university in Washington, DC. During his presidential tenure, George Washington advocated for the creation of a national university, and upon his death, he left funds for an endowment. This did not come to fruition, but shortly after Washington’s death, a group of Baptist ministers came together to establish a nonsectarian college in the District. The college, known as Columbian College, held its first classes in 1821. In 1904, the school changed its name to The George Washington University, reflecting the name of its first proponent. Today, GWU is DC’s largest university with 26,000 total students (split pretty evenly between undergrads and postgrads).
The GW Colonials compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) in NCAA Division I. They won’t be known as the Colonials for long. The school decided to drop the nickname because it has been “criticized for glorifying colonialism, slavery, and racial discrimination.” George Washington will not have a new name until next season, so they’re technically still the Colonials but they’re kind of pretending they’re not.
Look, I don’t know if “Colonials” is truly offensive – I’m probably not the person who gets to decide that. I do know this: Colonials is a bad nickname. It isn’t unique. It isn’t interesting. It doesn’t instill fear in opponents. More than anything, it’s very boring. Whether the reason for dropping the name is correct or an overreaction, I think they’ve made the right call. Per the same source, three mascots proposed by students are Revolutionaries (not much better than Colonials), Riverhorses (better, though four syllables is a lot), and Hippos (please pick this one).
The University of Dayton is a private Catholic university in Dayton, Ohio. The Flyers also compete in the Atlantic 10. The A-10 is typically one of the best mid-major conferences in college basketball, usually sending multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. However, the whole conference has been a disappointment this season. This includes Dayton; the preseason conference favorite lost several non-conference games they shouldn’t have. Unless something changes, the Atlantic 10 will likely only send one team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
THE TOWN
George Washington University’s campus is located in DC’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, about 3 miles from my apartment. I thought this sounded like a lovely late morning walk. On the walk to GW, you see the Capitol…
the White House…
and the Lincoln Memorial from very far away…
I’ve lived in DC proper for six months now (and in the area for two-and-a-half years) and this is the first time in that span that I’ve been by the White House. It doesn’t really come up in my day-to-day life.
Foggy Bottom is an old, old neighborhood. First settled by Europeans in the 1760s, the area was then known as “Funkstown.” Foggy Bottom is a beautiful little part of Washington, with colorful rowhouses from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, big old trees lining the streets, and a genuine historic feel. Really, a perfect Saturday morning walk. Foggy Bottom does have some of the most confusing streets you’ll ever drive on, but that’s a complaint for another day. The neighborhood also houses the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Watergate Hotel.
Foggy Bottom and George Washington are inseparable from each other. Campus merges seamlessly with the rest of the neighborhood, only now, the old, colorful rowhouses contain classrooms, administration offices, and sorority houses. You could truly walk for a couple blocks and not realize you are on a college campus; even the more stately structures blend in nicely. With an on-campus metro stop and historic buildings all around, GW has a very urban – and very DC – campus.
Behind the baseline of the Charles E. Smith Center is a section of raised seating about ten feet high. The first row of seating is their “box seating” (which costs $20). About 6 feet and 3 stairs back is “Row A” (which is where I sat; it costs $10). Behind Row A is another section of raised seating a few feet up. This has Row B and the rest of the alphabet. This is an extraordinarily strange way to set up seating.
That said, I’m a big fan of the Smith Center. You feel like you are literally on top of the action in Row A of the baseline. Aesthetically, the arena colors pop and a good amount of natural light slips in. In each corner, there are large cutouts of campus slogans like “Raise High” and “Only at GW.” Normally, I’d think this is corny, but it actually looks really cool with the large windows behind it. This nearly fifty-year-old arena certainly has some quirks, but it’s aged really well.
THE GAME
This game had a fantastic environment. This was for two reasons. The first? For an early Saturday game, GW’s students really showed out. They overfilled the student section (appropriately known as George’s Army) and spilled into the upper sections of the sideline. When the PA announcer gave his introduction, he said the standard “there is no smoking in the building,” after which every student yelled “except on the court!” I’m, uh… not sure I understand why this is fun or interesting for them, but I’m glad they’ve found something they enjoy. After seeing several games during winter break, it was good to see a full student section, particularly one that brought so much excitement to the game.
The second reason? By my estimate, nearly half of the people in attendance were Dayton fans. Dayton isn’t close – I’ve done that drive and it takes most of a day. But the University of Dayton is a basketball-focused school in a basketball-focused city, and I’m sure there are enough Dayton alums in the DMV for a couple thousand to visit the Smith Center. There was a constant back-and-forth between the GW and Dayton fans, contributing to a unique environment.
George Washington really leans in to their DC provenance. The court has the outlines of the White House, Washington Monument, and Capitol along the sideline, and the outline of the District at midcourt. The dance squad is known as the First Ladies. During a game break, they played a trivia game about Ben’s Chili Bowl where the prize was a bottle of Capital City Mambo Sauce. Georgetown is DC’s college basketball team, but I like that GW makes this so much of their brand. And if Georgetown continues to stink, who knows.
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To pull the upset, George Washington needed a fast start. That’s exactly what happened: an opening dunk by Maximus Edwards (#2), a three by Edwards, and another dunk by Hunter Dean (#13) on back-to-back-to-back possessions gave George Washington a quick 7-2 lead. GW was the more physical team in the first half, while Dayton just looked slow. At the 7:25 mark, GW’s #11, James Bishop, converted an and-one to give GW a 10-point lead, 22-12.
The teams traded baskets for the rest of the first half. George Washington led 33-22 in the seconds leading into halftime. However, Maximus Edwards hit a buzzer-beating three to give GW a 14-point lead at half. GW was dominating.
The first basket after the half was a contested three by Dayton’s #55, Mike Sharavjamts (who is from Mongolia). You could feel the Flyers were more focused and possessed the ability to cut into the lead quickly. But George Washington weathered the storm and led by 10 at the first media timeout, 39-29.
Dayton hit back. GW missed some shots and the Flyers’ #15, DaRon Holmes, converted a transition dunk with 12:44 remaining to cut the lead to 6, 43-37. Dayton’s fans were getting noisy.
Throughout the game, GW’s James Bishop stepped up when his team needed it. After Holmes’ raucous dunk, Bishop did just that. He scored the next 6 points all by himself, and suddenly it’s a double-digit lead again. Dayton would have their chances over the next several possessions to get back into it, but they repeatedly missed open three-point shots.
A pivotal moment happened with 3 minutes left. Dayton has finally gotten a few shots to fall and they’ve stopped George Washington on repeated possessions. The score is now 57-50, the smallest deficit the Flyers have faced in a while. The atmosphere is electric, with Dayton fans eager to see their team close the gap, and GW fans desperately fearing that possibility. Dayton has the ball down just 7 and DaRon Holmes finds himself with the ball right by the goal. He puts up a shot and misses. I, every Dayton fan, and – if they’re being honest – most GW fans saw Holmes clearly get slapped on the back of the arm. But none of the referees blew the whistle, and George Washington got the rebound. Free throws could have led to a two-possession game, but Dayton didn’t get the chance.
It was free throws the rest of the way, and George Washington excelled. Particularly, #10, Brendan Adams, was 11-12 from the line in the last minutes, and GW brought the lead back to 10 with 1:51 remaining, 62-52.
The Flyers weren’t quite dead yet. #2, Toumani Camara, hit two wild three-pointers to cut the lead down to 5 (74-69) with 11 seconds on the clock. But it was too late. Brendan Adams went back to the free throw line where he once again made his shots.
Final: George Washington 76, Dayton 69
James Bishop ended his day with a gaudy stat line: 27 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds in 38 minutes. Brendan Adams added 18 points and 8 rebounds, while Maximus Edwards had 15 and 6.
In the losing effort, Toumani Camara had 16 points and 8 rebounds, while DaRon Holmes notched a double-double with 14 and 10.
This is the ninth college basketball game I've seen this season and it was one of the most fun ones I've experienced in a while. I'm already making plans to get back to Foggy Bottom.
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