Buffaloes Drop Semifinal To Colonials, 53-50

After leading for most of the second half, poor late game execution doomed Colorado, as they fell to George Washington in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic, 53-50.

With time expiring, and the Buffs down three, Askia Booker's three-point attempt was blocked GW's Kevin Larsen, one of two George Washington defender's assigned to stop Booker on the final possession.

"We've got to find a way to win these games," head coach Tad Boyle told AM-760 following the loss. "Until we do, it's going to be frustrating, there's going to be some growing pains. We've got to execute better down the stretch, there's no question about that, both offensively and defensively. We didn't do that today."

The Colonials took an 18-9 lead midway through the first half. With Booker on the bench with two fouls, it looked like CU might be looking at a large deficit come halftime. But the Buffs stiffened on defense, with George Washington taking a 30-26 lead into the locker room.

Colorado began the second half on a 6-0 run, with a banker by Josh Scott, and a pair of buckets by Wesley Gordon.

CU held single-digit leads until about five minutes to play, when the Colonials went on a 6-0 run, reclaiming the lead. Booker punched back with a put-back on his own miss on the ensuing possession, but Colorado allowed GW to grab too many long offensive rebounds in the final minutes, as the Colonials escaped with a 53-50 win.

Colorado has a day off before facing the loser of the Wichita State-Hawai'i semifinal on Christmas Day at 4:30 p.m. MST.