|
 Lonergan now has a net from Madison Square Garden after George
Washington won its first NIT title with a 76-60 win over Valparaiso
in the championship game on Thursday.
"I'm not a big motivational guy, but I tell you, I felt that (good
luck) net before every game," he said with the Garden net draped
over his shoulders. "I told the guys, we win, I'm wearing one of
those nets.
"I don't care what we do with the other one, but I will probably
send that back to my buddy who gave it to me. When we didn't win the
A-10 (tournament) and didn't make the NCAA's we kept the net hanging
in our locker room everywhere we went. It was in our locker room
tonight."
The Colonials (28-10) stymied the Crusaders with their 1-3-1 zone,
outscoring them 44-29 in the second half. Valparaiso (30-7) made
only 12 of its 34 shots in the second half.
The zone proved effective in the semifinals Tuesday against San
Diego State as well. The Aztecs shot just 29 percent and were
3-of-22 from 3-point distance in the 65-46 loss.
"We had energy," said Lonergan, on why the zone was so good.
"(Patricio) Garino and (Yuta) Watanabe always have the energy, but
other guys really started caring about defense and believing that
defense wins championships."
Forward Kevin Larsen led a balanced scoring legion for the Colonials
with 18 points. Patricio Garino added 14 points, Joe McDonald tossed
in 13 points and Tyler Cavanaugh, the tournament's Most Outstanding
Player, had 12.
Cavanaugh, a transfer from Wake Forest, scored in double figures in
every game for the Colonials this season.
Alec Peters topped the Crusaders with 15 points, but only scored two
in the second half. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
A 3-pointer from Larsen, the Colonials' eighth and final one of the
game, moved George Washington ahead 57-44 with 5:59 to play and two
free throws from McDonald 19 seconds later moved its lead to 59-44
-- its largest cushion to that point.
A layup from Valparaiso's Darien Walker trimmed the Colonials' lead
to 34-33 early in the second half, but George Washington responded
with a 16-4 burst to move their lead to 50-37 with 11:38 to play.
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Cavanaugh tossed in five consecutive points to put the Colonials
ahead 32-29 with 31 seconds to play in the half before Valparaiso's
Shane Hammink's free throws made it 32-31 at the half.
Valparaiso knotted the game at 24-24, scoring eight straight points
in just over a minute. A 3-pointer from Peters, who scored 13 points
in the half, concluded the run.
A 10-2 surge gave the Colonials a 21-12 margin advantage. The
Crusaders turned the ball over four times in that span.
"I told our guys one game doesn't define a season," said Valparaiso
coach Bryce Drew. "We had a sensational run to get here,
unfortunately we didn't play as well as we would have liked.
"I thought George Washington probably played one of the better games
they have all year."
NOTES: The All-Tournament team consisted of Alec Peters of
Valparaiso and Kevin Larsen, Joe McDonald and Patricio Garino of
George Washingtion. ... The teams met for the first time. ...
Valparaiso's five regular-season losses were by a combined 26
points. ... Valparaiso committed a season-high 20 turnovers in the
NIT semifinal win over BYU on Tuesday. ... Crusaders C Vashil
Fernandez is the two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the
Year. He leads Division I in blocks per-game. ... George Washington
G Yuta Watanabe is only the fourth Division I player from Japan. ...
Colonials G Alex Mitola, a graduate-student transfer, graduated from
Dartmouth in three years with a degree in economics.
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