Maryland Basketball holds off George Washington and survives for 71-64 for a tough non-conference victory in College Park to improve their record to 2-0. It was an ugly win for the Terp’s (2-0) as they found it difficult to knock down shots throughout the game, but in crunch time, they took care of business.
Junior Qudus Wahab posted another stellar effort as he led the Terps with 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while Seniors Fatts Russell (15) and Eric Ayala (11) each scored in double figures. Donta Scott along with Wahab grabbed double-digit rebounds with 10 boards.
The Colonials (1-1) were led by game-leading scorer Joe Bamislie with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Also making a major contribution was a familiar face to Terp fans as former Terp Ricky Lindo Jr made his return to College Park and had a very good game with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
In the first half, both teams could not buy a bucket as Maryland shot 12-32 (37%) and 0-9 from three-point land. GW did not fair much better as they were 14-36 (39%) and 2-8 from three. The Terp’s turned up the defensive pressure at the end of the half and the Colonels took a 30-29 lead going into halftime.
Maryland picked up where they left off at the end of the first half and keep the pressure on GW and ran out to 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 37-30 and it would be a lead that the Terp’s would never lose the rest of the game. GW would hang around as Maryland just could not put them away, as James Bishop hit a jumper with 2:13 remaining to make the score 66-64.
With 1:14 remaining the Colonials had a chance to tie the game as Bishops shot rattled out. Then on defense, the Terp’s make the stops they needed to and Fatts Russell with 44 seconds left in the game hit a step back to ice the game.
Here are the big takeaways from the Terp’s victory over George Washington.