No. 8 GW tops Dayton, ties best start in school history

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The first was a breathtaking alley-oop. The

second could have been an audition for the NBA slam dunk contest.

With the outcome of the game decided early, the only real

scorekeeping to do in the second half of George Washington's

victory over Dayton on Wednesday night was the style points for

Danilo Pinnock's dunks.

Pinnock scored 21 points, and Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 20 in the

81-67 victory, the 11th straight win for the eighth-ranked

Colonials. George Washington improved to 19-1, matching the 1953-54

team for the best 20-game start in school history, and its 9-0

record in the Atlantic 10 makes for a commanding lead in a league

in which no other team has fewer than three losses.

Pinnock made seven of 12 shots and had six rebounds and four

steals, but his highlights came after the game was well out of

reach. He sailed well above the rim to slam home an alley-oop pass

from Montrell McDonald on a fast break with 10½ minutes remaining,

then raised the Smith Center roof when he finished a solo breakaway

by tossing himself a pass and catching it at the rim for a

two-handed dunk.

For the record, Pinnock voted for dunk No. 1.

"I've got to go with my freshman throwing me the 'oop,"

Pinnock said. "We practice our break like that a lot. I almost

didn't go up to dunk it because I was surprised he threw it up

there. I think the pass was a lot better than the dunk, truthfully,

but I think that was better than the throwing the 'oop to myself."

As Pinnock spoke, coach Karl Hobbs interrupted by coughing

loudly.

"How about his defense?" Hobbs said. "How about him guarding

his man?"

Freshman Charles Little, making his first career start, scored

13 points to lead Dayton (11-13, 3-7). The Flyers, who fell to 1-7

on the road, were outrebounded 38-27 and never recovered after

missing eight of their first 11 shots in an inhospitable arena

where the Colonials are 12-0.

George Washington opened the game with a 14-3 run.

Brian Roberts hit a jumper to cut the lead to eight late in the

first half, but that was the last time the deficit was under double

digits. Roberts went 0-for-7 from the 3-point range, and Norman

Plummer went 2-for-9 from the field.

"That's a heck of a team we played tonight," Flyers coach

Brian Gregory said. "Unselfish, 21 assists in 29 baskets. You have

to play a very, very good game on both ends of the court to beat a

team that's as diverse in their ways to beat you as George

Washington is. They turn every turnover into a basket, and a lot of

times it's a very unbelievable-type basket."

Mensah-Bonsu made eight of 12 shots, including a layup after a

dynamic reverse spin move in the paint that gave the Colonials a

13-point lead late in the first half. Mensah-Bonsu ended the half

with a dunk off of an offensive rebound, putting George Washington

ahead 49-30 at the break, and fans serenaded the senior center by

chanting "You can't stop him" in the second half.

When Mensah-Bonsu wasn't getting room inside against the Dayton

zone, George Washington compensated by making 10 of 26 3-pointers.

The Colonials had 3-pointers from four different players to account

for all of the team's points during a 4½-minute stretch in the

first half.

As usual, Hobbs downplayed the Colonials' latest milestone,

saying once again that his team is overachieving.

"I'll continue to say that," Hobbs said, "until these players

make me believe otherwise."