WASHINGTON, DC – North Carolina A&T made a terrific comeback only to see the George Washington Revolutionaries pull away late in an 85-80 loss to the Revolutionaries at the Charles E. Smith Center Tuesday night in a non-conference men's basketball matchup.
Junior Landon Glasper led the Aggies with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals on 4-or-5 shooting from 3-point range. Glasper also made 8 of 12 from the field. Sophomore Ryan Forrest added 21 points and five rebounds. The Revolutionaries enjoyed a 48-28 advantage in the paint as the Aggies dropped to 1-2 early in the 2024-25 season.
"I thought our guys played their hearts out," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "They kept fighting, kept battling. And that's all I could ask for. They got a separation toward the end of the game, but again, I was proud of how we kept fighting."
GW, who plays out of the Atlantic-10, took its biggest lead of the first half at 39-25 on a putback by Darren Buchanan, Jr. But a steal and layup from Forrest got the Aggies. Back-to-back baskets from Nikolaos Chitikoudis followed Forrest's layup to cut GW's lead to 39-31 with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
Trey Autry ended A&T's mini-run with a 3-pointer to push the Revolutionaries' lead back to double figures. A&T sophomore Jahnathan Lamothe scored on a layup before GW took a 44-33 lead at halftime on a Rafael Castro putback. But the Aggies started to show off all the offensive firepower they possessed.
Junior point guard Camian Shell opened the second half by knocking down a jump shot. Lamothe followed with a three before a Will Felton steal led to a Lamothe fastbreak layup as the Aggies cut GW's lead to 44-41 within the first 75 seconds of the second half. A&T got GW's lead down to one, 51-50, at the 15-minute mark on another Lamothe bucket.
The Aggies took their first lead of the game since the 16:39 mark of the first half when Shell scored on a layup and was fouled. Shell completed the 3-point play to give A&T the 53-51 advantage. The Aggies lead grew to as many as three, 60-57, on a Lamothe jump shot in the paint with 11 minutes to play.
Over the next 5 ½ minutes, the two teams went through five lead changes and three ties. A&T took its final lead of the game, 66-65, on a Chitikoudis layup. Two Buchanan free throws gave the Revolutionaries a 67-66 lead. It sparked a 12-0 GW run to provide the Revolutionaries a 77-66 lead with 1:39 to play.
"Defensively, we weren't sharp. We weren't as sharp as we needed to be," said Ross. "A lot of that had to do with GW. They had some talented guys over there – some older guys that won their matchups. They were to put the ball in the basket and make some key plays for them down the stretch."
Two GW players earned double-doubles, led by Buchanan, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Castro added 12 points and 12 rebounds as GW out-rebounded A&T 38-31. The Aggies did shoot 50 percent from the floor, including 54.5 percent in the second half.
A&T returns to action on Sunday, November 17, when they travel to Charleston, SC, to face The Citadel at 2 p.m. from McAlister Field House.
