By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After two seasons of running roughshod through the Atlantic 10 Conference, Xavier University is finding out what payback feels like.

Wednesday, it was George Washington's turn to rub it in. The Colonials hadn't defeated Xavier since 2001, but Wednesday they handed Xavier its worst loss since 2000, 81-60, and dropped XU to 10-8 and 2-4 in the Atlantic 10.

The Colonials outplayed Xavier inside and outside and turned a 10-point halftime advantage into a rout in front of 4,021 at the Smith Center.

"This has never happened to our team before," sophomore point guard Dedrick Finn said. "And it hurts. It really hurts. We've got a lot of work to do. We've got to come together, and if we don't come together by Saturday, it's going to be the same thing."

Xavier could not match George Washington's speed or intensity. Xavier coach Thad Matta tried to switch up defenses, but the Colonials (11-7, 5-2) got to the basket either way.

Early in the second half, George Washington increased the tempo and got a flurry of dunks that all but ended Xavier's chances.

"After they saw our heads drop, they fed off that," Finn said.

Sophomore point guard T.J. Thompson began the run when he lofted a pass from half court to the basket where sophomore Pops Mensah-Bonsu grabbed it and slammed it. That gave GW a 46-30 lead and began a string of four straight dunks for the Colonials. George Washington outscored Xavier 48-28 on points in the paint.

Mensah-Bonsu finished with six dunks and 15 points. Thompson led the Colonials with 19 points.

"Our players just gave up," Finn said. "Not everybody, but some of the players just gave up. Thirteen minutes to go, we gave up."

Xavier hadn't exactly helped its cause up until that point. The Musketeers shot poorly for the second straight game. They made four of 24 3-point attempts and 18 of 30 free throws. Lionel Chalmers made three of the 3s and finished with 21 points.

George Washington got out to a first-half lead by making 14 of 17 free throws. Xavier converted just 13 of its 21 free throws in the first half, a 61.9 percent clip.

Xavier also had trouble holding onto the ball. Center Anthony Myles committed four of Xavier's 14 turnovers by letting the ball slip through his hands on numerous occasions.

The Musketeers were outrebounded 40-33, although senior Romain Sato grabbed a game-high 13 boards. He was held to nine points, however, on 2-of-10 shooting.

For George Washington, the game carried an extra amount of significance, considering Xavier has won the last two A-10 West titles and the last five games against the Colonials.

"Every time we play Xavier it's always a big game, and we always want it bad," Mensah-Bonsu said. "To get this win was a pretty big thing."

Now, Xavier moves on to play the A-10 West leader, Dayton, on Saturday. The Flyers are 6-0 in the league and haven't played since last Saturday.

"We've got to find five guys who are willing to compete," Matta said. "And I don't know what five it's going to be."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Doellman	15	0	7	0	0	1	0	4	0	0
Myles	17	4	4	0	3	7	0	2	4	8
Chalmers	39	7	12	4	7	2	1	3	2	21
Sato	38	2	10	5	6	13	2	3	1	9
Finn	30	2	6	3	4	0	1	4	1	8
Cage	26	2	4	4	6	5	1	2	2	8
Jackson	14	1	6	0	0	1	2	1	0	2
Christiansen	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cole	13	1	1	0	2	2	0	3	2	2
Caudle	5	0	2	2	2	0	0	3	2	2
Totals	200	19	53	18	30	33	7	25	14	60

Team rebounds - 2.

GW	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Williams	14	2	3	2	4	5	1	3	1	6
Hall	33	5	6	4	6	8	2	2	0	15
Forchion	12	1	3	0	0	1	0	3	0	2
Thompson	36	6	11	6	6	3	5	3	4	19
Elliott	30	4	9	7	9	9	4	2	2	15
Pinnock	21	2	6	0	0	2	1	2	2	4
Lucas	14	1	6	0	0	1	0	2	0	3
Johnson	6	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Kireev	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mensah-Bonsu	25	7	11	0	1	8	0	2	0	24
Cown	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Collucci	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	1	0
Totals	200	29	57	19	26	40	15	22	10	81

Team rebounds - 3.

Xavier	30	30	-60
GW	40	41	-81

3-pointers - Xavier 4-24 (Doellman 0-6, Chalmers 3-8, Sato 0-4, Finn 1-4, Jackson 0-1, Christiansen 0-1), GW 4-13 (Hall 1-1, Thompson 1-6, Elliott 0-1, Lucas 1-3, Cowan 1-1, Collucci 0-1). Technicals - None. Officials - Mayborg, Crawford, Tyburski. Attendance - 4,021.