Charlie Coley throws down a monstrous dunk against GW.

February 14, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10 CollegeHoops

CHARLOTTE, NC – It may have been Valentine’s Day, but the GW Colonials certainly didn’t feel the love. The 49ers were dominant on both sides of the ball, delivering a beat down worthy of homecoming weekend.

With this win, Charlotte (9-15, 3-7 A-10) is now back in the hunt to make the A-10 tournament in Atlantic City.

The Colonials (7-15, 1-9 A-10) have now lost 14 out of 15 games and their hopes of making the conference tournament are grave at best.

Charlotte dominated from the start, sparked by Lamont Mack’s 8 points in the opening minutes. George Washington shot an abysmal 30% from the floor in the first half, and managed to score only 17 points. Mack continued to dominate in A-10 play, scoreing 14 in the half and led the Niners into the locker room with a 20 point advantage. He ended the game with 23 points and 5 rebounds.

Dijuan Harris continues to be a great court general for Charlotte, delivering a career-high 15 assists while committing just 1 turnover. Harris has produced double-digit assist games in 4 out of his last 5 contests and is leading the conference in assist/turnover ratio for the second straight season. Despite his great individual performance, Harris remained focused on the team and their aspirations to make it to Atlantic City for the A-10 Conference tournament.

“It was very important for us to make a push late in the season like this. We want to play in the (A-10) tournament,” said Charlotte’s Harris.

Harris had a career-high 15 assists.

Coach Bobby Lutz was slightly more nonchalant regarding his teams postseason chances:

“I don’t talk about those kinds of things with the team, but obviously we needed to win this game (to make the tournament.) I was really pleased with the way we played today. I know George Washington’s record isn’t great, but they’ve played some good teams close. We got out to a good start and built off that.”

Lutz also beamed with A-10 pride with his comment regarding the 49ers upcoming game against 9th ranked Xavier:

“They’re a great basketball team and they’ve lost a few games in our conference, but that’s because we play in a great conference. We’re rated the 8^th best league, but we’re better than the SEC this year, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.”

There weren’t many bright spots for the Colonials, but despite the poor performance, all 10 players scored for GW, led by Damian Hollis’ 13 points and 8 boards.

Charlotte hosts 9th ranked Xavier on Thursday. Former 49er star Eddie Basden will become only the 8th player in Charlotte history to have his jersey retired.

The Colonials host St. Bonaventure on February 19th and hope to somehow salvage their season.

harris-coley-mack-press-conference-214

lutz-press-conference-214