Colonials Hang On, Beat St. Joe's 67-62

Yegor Mescheriakov scored 17 points and Shawnta Rogers had 16 as No. 22 George Washington nearly blew a 20-point second-half lead before hanging on to beat St. Joseph's 67-62 Saturday afternoon.

The Colonials (20-3, 9-1 Atlantic 10) were ahead 52-32 with 8:47 to play before the Hawks rallied behind Rashid Bey, who scored all of his 17 of his points in the second half.

St. Joseph's (8-12, 1-9) got to within 64-62 with 29 seconds left, but Rogers made two free throws two seconds later, and the Hawks' Frank Wilkins missed two free throws with 23 seconds left.

Alexander Koul missed two free throws with 21 seconds left, but George Washington's Darin Green rebounded the second miss, forcing the Hawks to foul Rogers. He made one of two free throws with 14 seconds left to seal the win.

The Colonials, winners of seven straight and 15 of 16, seemingly took control with a 14-0 run in the middle of the second half, during which St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli was ejected after picking up two technical fouls.

Mescheriakov and Antxon Iturbe each scored four points during the run as the Colonials surged to a 52-32 lead with 8:47 left. The Hawks went scoreless for seven minutes.

St. Joe's didn't fold. The Hawks went on a 14-2 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers by Duval Simmonds and another by Bey, but still trailed 54-46 with 4:42 to play.

Bey made two free throws following an intentional foul by Mescheriakov to cut the lead to 58-52, then hit a trey to cut the lead to 60-56 to play before Mescheriakov made a short jumper to make it 62-56 with 1:05 left.

The Colonials had a 12-point halftime lead, and took a 36-21 lead when Mescheriakov hit the second half's first shot, a 3-pointer.

But the Hawks went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 38-32 five minutes into the half. Bey had seven points during the run.

George Washington made five of its first eight shots, while St. Joe's hit only two of their first nine, as the Colonials jumped out to a 12-4 lead.

The Hawks got no closer than six the rest of the half, with George Washington leading by as many as 14 before taking a 33-21 lead at the break.

Written by John F. Bonfatti AP Sports Writer
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