Sampson Carter scored 20 points and UMass held George Washington to three points in the final five minutes to take a 67-61 decision on Saturday afternoon in Washington.
Derrick Gordon added 11 points for the Minutemen (20-5, 7-4 Atlantic-10), and his 3-pointer with 12:26 left gave the visitors an 11-point lead at 49-38. GW (19-6, 7-4) then went on a 10-4 run to close the gap. After a dunk by UMass’ Raphiael Putney restored the lead to seven, the hosts ran off eight straight points, capped by a Patricio Garino layup that gave GW a 56-55 lead with just over six minutes left.
GW went cold in the final five minutes, missing all seven of its shots and scoring only three points, all free throws. An Isaiah Armwood free throw with 25 seconds left had GW within a point at 62-61, but UMass closed out the game on a 5-0 run, hitting 5-of-8 free throws.
Chaz Williams had another tough shooting day for UMass, hitting 3-of-11 shots. The speedy guard finished with eight points and six assists.
Garino led the Colonials with 20 points.
– In Bethlehem, Pa., Eric Green scored 14 points to lead Holy Cross to a 72-67 victory over Lehigh, the Crusaders’ ninth win in 10 games.
All five Crusaders starters scored in double figures, with Justin Burrell and Anthony Thompson netting 13 apiece, Malcolm Miller amassing 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, and Dave Dudzinski scoring 10 points.
Tim Kempton scored 17 points for Lehigh (13-14, 6-8 Patriot).
HC (16-10, 10-4) led by four points at the break, 41-37, and opened the second half with a 6-0 run, including consecutive layups by Green, to take a 10-point lead. Lehigh answered with an 11-3 run, fueled by six points from Kempton, and kept within striking distance the rest of the way.
The HC lead was three at 63-60 with 4:10 left after a layup by Lehigh’s Justin Goldsborough. Neither team scored for the next 3:40, until Burrell made a jumper with 30 seconds remaining, his first of seven points in the final half-minute. HC hit 7-of-8 from the line in the final 23 seconds to put it away.
– In action from Friday night in New York, Steve Moundou-Missi had 22 points and eight rebounds as Harvard posted a double-overtime victory over Columbia, 88-84.
Siyani Chambers also scored 22 points for the Crimson (19-4, 6-1 Ivy), who remained tied for first place with Yale.