The George Washington men¡¯s basketball team advanced to the NIT quarterfinals by beating Monmouth 87-71 on Monday in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
The fourth-seeded Colonials (25-10), who never trailed, outscored the hosts 50-38 in the second half in a game televised by ESPN. Sophomore Yuta Watanabe, who hails from Kagawa Prefecture, played an instrumental role on defense in the nationally televised game.
The 203-cm Watanabe primarily guarded Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year Justin Robinson, a 173-cm guard. Robinson finished with six points on 2-for-16 shooting.
¡°No doubt Yuta was the player of the game for us,¡± the Colonials¡¯ Kevin Larsen was quoted as saying to The GW Hatchet, the GW student newspaper. ¡°He was the MVP. He locked down a guy that is averaging 19 a game so this game goes to Yuta.¡±
Tyler Cavanaugh paced GW with 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Larsen and Patricio Garino had 19 points apiece and Watanabe finished with six points, nine boards and a block.
For No. 1 seed Monmouth (28-8), Micah Seaborn scored 24 points. The Colonials will travel to face No. 2 Florida in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
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