Mar 11, 2007, 3:05 GMT
Atlantic City, NJ - Carl Elliott poured in 17 points and cleared six boards, and George Washington beat Rhode Island, 78-69, to capture the Atlantic-10 Tournament Championship at Boardwalk Hall.
Dokun Akingbade scored 15 points and had nine rebounds for the third-seeded Colonials (23-8), who earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Maureece Rice added 12 points and Regis Koundjia finished with 11 for George Washington.
Will Daniels scored a game-high 29 points -- 17 in the second half -- for the fourth-seeded Rams (19-14), who entered the game having won two straight after dropping the last three games of their regular season schedule. Jimmy Baron was the only other player in double figures, finishing with 10 points for Rhode Island.
George Washington took an early 12-3 lead, capped by an Akingbade layup at 17:32. The Rams battled back, however, closing to 14-13 on Kahiem Seawright's shot off the glass at 14:41.
The teams traded buckets over the next eight minutes, until the Colonials ran off a 12-0 spurt to claim a 40-31 margin with 3:57 remaining in the half. Elliott ignited the run with a pair of buckets - a jumper and layup - and Koundjia capped the rally with a short jumper.
The Rams trailed 44-36 at intermission.
Daniels came out firing in the second half, as he sandwiched an Elliott jumper with a pair of three-point shots to pull Rhode Island within four, 46-42, at 16:27.
The Colonials continued their hot shooting from three-point range, however, as treys by Rice and Travis King on consecutive possessions gave GW a 57-46 cushion.
A jump shot by Keith Cothran trimmed the George Washington lead to four, 66-62, with just 2:57 remaining, but Akingbade quickly answered with a layup to put the Colonials back on top by six.
Rhode Island didn't get any closer the rest of the way, and trailed by nine with just 43 seconds remaining in the contest.
Game Notes
GW captured its second A-10 Tournament championship in three years...The Colonials are on an eight-game winning streak, their longest this season...GW leads the all-time series with URI, 25-21. The Colonials have captured the last six and eight of the last 10 meetings between the teams...URI was playing in the Championship game for the first time since 1999, when it captured its first and only A-10 tourney title, defeating Temple, 62-59.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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