CHARLESTON, W.Va — Jon Elmore’s 40 second-half points lifted George Washington to an 83-65 win over Capital on Thursday night.
Elmore had just five points at the half, but erupted in the third and fourth quarters to finish the game with 12 3-pointers.
“I couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean in the first half,” Elmore said. “In the second half, I came out and hit a couple and decided to keep pulling.”
George Washington (18-5) erased Capital’s 37-32 halftime lead with an 11-5 run out of the break as Elmore hit three 3s. And that was just the beginning of his 45 point effort as he put his team on his back and willed them to victory.
“We came together at halftime and we decided we didn’t want to go home and have our season end,” Elmore said. “So we came out with some intensity and it really paid off.”
Dominik King and Anthony Dean kept the Patriots within striking distance in the first half, as the two of them combined for 23 points in the first half. For the game, George Washington connected on 16 3-pointers, with King adding the other four.
Not to be forgotten were the 28 points and 13 rebounds from Carrington Morris of Capital (12-8), a performance that on mosts night would’ve been the headline. Morris scored in a variety of ways driving to the bucket, knocking down 3s and getting to the line.
“He’s first-team all state to me, you can’t stop him,” George Washington coach Rick Greene said. “He’s an excellent player and you don’t know what he’s going to do.”
George Washington, winners of nine of their last 10 games, advanced to the sectional final Saturday night for a rematch against South Charleston. The Black Eagles squeaked out a 63-62 win over GW in their only regular-season meeting.
“We can’t wait to get down to the community center, (South Charleston) got one on us the first time,” Elmore said. “We’re going to go down there and play our hardest and hope the result is different.”