Owing in large part to a soft schedule, George Washington had earned a reputation as overrated despite a 26-2 record. With just 11 minutes remaining in their first-round NCAA Tournament game against UNC-Wilmington last night, the Colonials appeared posed to prove their critics right. They trailed by 18 points, and had allowed the Seahawks to make 14 of their last 16 shots. The game, which had been tied at halftime, seemed to be slipping away.

Then, suddenly, it was if a switch had been flipped. Carl Elliott buried a pair of three-pointers, and GW’s signature pressure defense began to dictate the tempo, forcing UNC-Wilmington into turnovers and rushed shots. The dust lifted less than four minutes later, and when it did, the Colonials had scored 19 straight points to take the lead.

The rest of the game was tournament basketball at its best, the jewel in an overall excellent day one. The teams traded buckets for several minutes, with neither side able to eke out a lead of more than a few points. T.J. Carter hit a gutsy three-pointer to put the Seahawks up two with under a minute to play. Elliott took an ill-advised three on GW’s next possession, but Carter bailed him out with an even more ill-advised foul. Elliott tied the game by confidently draining the first two free throws, but missed the third. Carter missed a jumper for the Seahawks, GW couldn’t get another shot off before the buzzer, and the game headed to overtime.

AP Photo taken by Chuck Burton.