When the George Washington men's basketball team learned before tip-off that All-Conference performer Darren Buchanan Jr. would be out for the meeting with league-leading Dayton, the team didn't blink. With Buchanan as the leading cheerleader from the bench, GW took a next-man-up mentality and took it to the Flyers all game.
In a wire-to-wire win in front of a packed Smith Center and national television audience, the Revolutionaries got a career-best performance from redshirt first-year player Christian Jones and another sterling shooting show from graduate student Gerald Drumgoole Jr. to remain undefeated at home this season.
Jones sank a career-high five three-pointers and a total of 23 points, doing so on only 14 shots from the floor. Drumgoole stated his case for Atlantic 10 Player-of-the-Week honors by putting together yet another superlative show. After scoring 27 points in the second half in GW’s conference opener, including a career-high seven three-pointers, he had five three-pointers Saturday and 21 total points against Dayton. Drumgoole is averaging 24 points per game his first two A-10 conference games.
GW swung early and raced out to a 28-11 lead after about 10 minutes and held tough through the first half taking substantial momentum into the locker room after Drumgoole connected on a three-point shot at the buzzer for a 43-27 lead at halftime.
Knowing the 2024 NCAA Tournament participants from Dayton would punch back, GW absorbed the early-second-half body blows, as the Flyers chopped that lead to just three at 54-51 with 12:38 to go. Undaunted, GW outscored its guests 28-11 the rest of the way, including a game-ending 18-4 run.
Sophomore Trey Autry was another standout for the GW Revs, playing as close to a perfect game as one can play. With zero misses and zero turnovers, Autry scored 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting, 3-of-3 from the three-point line and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. GW made a season-high 15 three-pointers on 48.4% shooting.
With the win, GW has now beaten Dayton in the District in the Flyers' last two visits to the Smith Center and pulls even in conference play at 1-1. Up next is a road date at Rhode Island, Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.