Game four: Men vs. Mount St. Mary's

The men's team opens the regular season at the Smith Center this afternoon against Mount St. Mary's. This will mark the first regular season game for the freshmen (Xavier Alexander, Miles Beatty, Jabari Edwards, and Joseph Katuka) and transfer Wynton Witherspoon.

The Colonials were picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 by coaches and media members. Karl Hobbs and company return two starters from the team that won the A-10 Tournament before losing to Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. In their only exhibition game of the season, the men's team survived a scare against the University of the District of Columbia on Halloween night, winning 74-71 in overtime behind Witherspoon's 20 points and nine rebounds.

Mount St. Mary's was picked to finish fourth out of 11 teams in the preseason Northeast Conference coaches' poll. The Mountaineers return three starters from the team that went 11-20 and reached the semifinals of the NEC Tournament for the first time in seven years.

The Mountaineers' strength is its backcourt, which is anchored by senior Chris Vann (13.6 points per game) and sophomore Jeremy Goode (10.1). Coach Milan Brown's squad also has some strength on the inside, returning three players who are at least 6-7 and weigh more than 240 pounds.

This will be the ninth-ever meeting between these two programs; GW is 6-2. The last meeting came on December 1, 2004 in the battle of the Thompson brothers (T.J. and Landy), as Pops Mensah-Bonsu recorded 27 points on 11-12 shooting, nine rebounds, and four blocks in 23 minutes in the Colonials' 81-58 win at the Smith Center. Maureece Rice only played one minute in that contest.

While Mount St. Mary's has enough size and depth on the inside to keep this game close, expect GW to pull away late.

Ben Sugarman and Ross Romano have the call for WRGW with Phil Kaminski and Evan Waxman handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 1.40 p.m. Our own Greg Shapiro will join Byron Kerr for the WFED broadcast. You can listen here starting at 1.50 p.m.

Game notes: The Colonials are 4-2 in season openers under Hobbs...GW has won 18 consecutive home openers, dating back to 1988...The Colonials are 65-28 all-time in season openers...Travis King is not expected to play...Regis Koundjia has been named a student assistant coach for the program while he works on a bachelor's degree in sociology...Mount St. Mary's is the oldest independent Catholic institution in the United States.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Smith Center once we get closer to tip-off. I am away for the weekend, so Julian Gompertz will be doing live blogging all afternoon. Check back later.

Update, 1.42 p.m. - We are here live at the Charles E. Smith Center for today's game between the George Washington Colonials and the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers. Starting Lineups are on the way, so keep it here all afternoon to stay current with GW Basketball.

Mount St. Mary's
G - Chris Vann (6-0 senior from Woodbridge, VA)
G - Jean Cajou (6-3 freshman from Fairfax, VA)
G - Will Holland (6-4 sophomore from Houston, TX)
F - Sam Atupem (6-7 junior from Newport News, VA)
F - Markus Mitchell (6-7 junior from Virginia Beach, VA)

GW
G - Reece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
G - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Cheyenne Moore (6-5 junior from Baltimore, MD)
F - Wynton Witherspoon (6-7 junior from Duluth, GA)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)

Update, 2.10 p.m. - And finally, we begin to get a glimpse at the potential for this team. First official timeout and GW holds a 10-0 lead playing superior defense and getting big three point baskets from Rice and Hollis, who both struggled mightily in the exhibition against UDC. The Mount is 0-6 from the field also missing two wide open shots, more from the Smith Center shortly.

Update, 2.21 p.m. - Mount St. Mary's is on the board as Vann sinks 1-2 free throws and than hits a three-point basket off his free throw miss...Diggs with a huge alley-oop dunk from a beautiful Hollis lob as it is 19-4 GW.

Update, 2.24 p.m. - Quick note, that sophomores Kelly Beidler and Jeremy Goode have been suspended indefinitely by coach Brown stemming from an altercation on campus. Goode set the record for most assists as a freshman for The Mount last season so that is certainly part of the reason GW leads 24-9.

Update, 2.35 p.m. - One of the most ridiculous dunks you will ever see as Moore got ahead of the pack and took off from the A-10 emblem with a monster one-handed tomahawk jam to put the Colonials up 29-9, it was followed by another Rice three-point shot, as Rice leads the team in scoring with 10 points and GW now leads 35-10 at the final official timeout.

Update, 2.51 p.m. - Halftime here at Smith and GW leads 39-23. Rice leads all scorers with 10 as he looks like he is back after a poor performance shooting (2-12) in the game against UDC. Witherspoon picked up right where he left off in the exhibition game scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds after being rewarded a spot in the starting lineup by Hobbs. Noel Wilmore hit two big three-pointers and Hollis has eight first half rebounds. For the Mountaineers last year's leading scorer Vann leads The Mount with nine points and five rebounds. The Mount started off ice-cold but used an 11-1 run late in the first half to cut the deficit to 16. Keep it here for the second half as we are courtside for the men's home opener against Mount St. Mary's.

Update, 3.19 p.m. - Witherspoon had a beautiful one-handed jam on the baseline and then Wilmore came back and hit his third three of the contest as GW leads 54-32 with 12:00 minutes to play.

Update, 3.35 p.m. - The Mount have used a 10-2 run sparked by Holland to cut the GW lead to 12, the lowest it has been in the second half. GW also has 21 turnovers, which is certainly a big reason the Mountaineers are in the game.

Update, 3.43 p.m. - As told by Jon Gaither at his Sporting News blog, the attendance was just announced and the official number is 3,644. That makes it the largest crowd for a regular season home opener since 2000. Thanks to Gaither for the catch.

Update, 3.56 p.m. - And that will do it here from the Smith Center as GW triumphs in its home opener beating Mount St. Mary's 77 -62. Diggs came on strong in the second half with 14 points and Rice and Witherspoon added 15. The score does not indicate the way the game was played as GW opened up this one with a 24-4 run and never looked back. From there the Mountaineers never got it within single digits. For the Mount, Holland led the way with 25 points and Vann added 21, but no one else scored more than four points as GW played stout defense on the interior all afternoon long. Keep it here for postgame audio from Hobbs and a few of the Colonial players.

Update, 5.16 p.m. - Here is the audio for Mount St. Mary's: coach Brown, Holland, and Vann. GW audio coming shortly.

Update, 6.09 p.m. - Here is the audio for GW: coach Hobbs, Diggs, and Witherspoon.

We will be back on Monday night when the women travel to Virginia to take on UVA at seven. Thanks for stopping by.