Men's Basketball Edged by GW, 67-66

Bronx, N.Y. – George Washington University led for only 2:17 of tonight's Atlantic 10 game with Fordham University. But it was the final 0.9 seconds that mattered the most as Tyler Cavanaugh hit three free throws with that much time on the clock to lead the Colonials to a 67-66 win over the Rams in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 13-17 overall, 7-10 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington improves to 17-13 overall, 9-8 in the conference.
 
The loss overshadowed the play of Fordham sophomore guard Joseph Chartouny, who scored a game-high 20 points to go with six steals and five assists, and freshman guard Cavit Havsa, who single-handedly kept the Rams in the game, hitting three three-pointers in the final two minutes, each time giving the Rams the lead.

The Rams connected on eleven three-pointers in the game to bring their season total to a school-record 245, surpassing the former mark of 243 set by last year's squad.
 
The game was a contest of markedly different halves for Fordham, who shot a blistering 63.0 percent (17-27) over the first 20 minutes while holding the Colonials to 38.1 percent (8-21) and forcing eleven George Washington turnovers as the Rams held a 41-28 lead at the break.
 
But the second half was a different story for Fordham as the Rams shot just 36.0 percent (9-25) over the final 20 minutes while George Washington shot 58.3 percent (14-24).  The Rams also committed 12 second half turnovers which the Colonials converted into 17 points.
 

A Havsa three with 11.2 seconds left gave Fordham a 66-64 lead and the Colonials called a time out with seven seconds remaining after getting the ball over half court. George Washington controlled the ball at the top of the key when Cavanaugh got open behind the defense and lofted a three-pointer that was off. But Christian Sengfelder was whistled for a foul on the play, giving Cavanaugh three free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining. Cavanaugh buried all three charity shots to provide the Colonials with the road win.
 
The Rams jumped out to a 10-2 lead over the first 4:30 before the Colonials battled back, eventually taking a 20-19 lead with 9:03 left in the half.
 
A Sengfelder jumper with 7:55 on the clock started a 20-3 Fordham run as the Rams took a 40-22 lead following a Chartouny three-pointer with 3:48 remaining in the half. Chartouny led the run with eight points while Javontae Hawkins added six as Fordham hit five three-pointers in the run.
 
George Washington closed out the half with a 6-1 spurt to make it a 13-point game at the break, 41-28.
 
A Hawkins layup 36 seconds into the second half bumped the Fordham lead to 15, 43-28, but a 10-2 Colonial run cut that lead to seven, 45-38, with 13:24 left.
 
George Washington would get the Fordham lead down to three, 47-44, with 8:37 remaining but back-to-back threes from Havsa and Chartouny got the Fordham advantage to nine, 53-44, at the 7:41 mark.
 
The Rams led again by nine, 55-46, following an Antwoine Anderson layup with 6:18 left when George Washington used an 11-2 run to knot the game at 57 on a Jordan Roland jumper with 2:25 remaining.
 
A Havsa three 30 seconds later put the Rams back in front, 60-57, but a pair of Cavanaugh free throws and a Yuta Watanabe layup gave the Colonials their first lead of the half, 61-60, with 1:10 left.
 
Another Havsa three with 45 seconds on the clock gave the Rams the lead again, 63-61, but George Washington answered with a Roland corner three to take a 66-64 lead with 29 ticks left on the clock.
 
A third Havsa three gave Fordham the 66-64 lead with eleven seconds left before Cavanaugh won the game with the three free throws.
 
Hawkins finished with 13 points while Havsa (12) and Sengfelder (11) also finished in double figures with Havsa hitting all four of his three-point attempts and Sengfelder adding seven rebounds.
 
The Rams return to action on Saturday, March 4, as they travel to Philadelphia to close out the 2017 Atlantic 10 regular season with a game at La Salle University at 2:00 p.m.
 
Notes
 
Fordham recorded eleven steals in the game, their 18th double digit steal game of the year.
 
The Rams now have 299 steals on the year, the third best single season in school history (school record is 350 by the 1981-1982 team).
 
Fordham fell for just the third time in 15 games when leading at the half this year.
 
The Rams fell for the first time in ten games this year when outshooting their opponent.
 
Fordham was outscored 19-3 from the free throw line.
 
The game was Chartouny's fourth 20-point game of the year.
 
Chartouny's six steals were just one shy of his career-high and brings his school-record season total 91 (former record was 78).
 
Sengfelder's eleven points brings his career total to 1,030, moving him into 33rd place on the Fordham all-time scoring list.
 
Havsa's 12 points is a season-high (previous high was ten at Duquesne).
 
Hawkins and Sengfelder were each honored with a commemorative ball prior to the game in recognition of each player scoring his 1,000 career point this season.