It wasn't easy. College basketball games in March seldom are. But for George Washington University men's basketball, it was survive and advance.
After Fordham took the briefest of leads with 2:18 to play after GW had led by as many as 13 in the second half, Trey Autry came to the rescue with three-straight 3-pointers, pulling the Buff & Blue back from the brink to secure the 88-81 win.
Autry finished by tying his career-high with 23 points behind a 7-of-13 effort from long range, making sure the Fordham Rams' Jackie Johnson III didn't steal the show. Johnson also connected on seven three-point shots en route to his game-high 35 points, but Autry's threes rang loudest.
Fordham's comeback came after a turn to a zone defense that temporarily flummoxed the Revolutionaries until Autry caught fire. With three of his teammates saddled with four fouls, it was Autry's aggressiveness to score that made the difference. All-A-10 big man Rafael Castro finished with 17 points, a game-high tying eight rebounds and a game-high tying four assists, efficiently connecting on 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Also playing with force was former All-Conference player Darren Buchanan Jr., who exhibited why he entered the season thought to be among the A-10's elite. His 14 points and seven rebounds in 23:24 off the bench fueled a pro-GW crowd that came out to support their team just two miles from the Foggy Bottom campus.
Now GW gets another crack at local foe George Mason after two nail-biting contests in the regular season. The quarterfinal matchup between the 7- and 2-seed comes Friday evening at 5 p.m.
Tickets for the Friday game are available. And there will be a Raise High Tailgate before tipoff from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Yard House, 812 7th St. NW in Chinatown. RSVP for the Raise High event.