SPORTS

 

DAVIDSON, N.C. — KiShawn Pritchett poured in a career-high 17 points to lead five Davidson double-digit scorers in a 73-62 win over George Washington in Belk Arena Wednesday night.

And his performance had coach Bob McKillop reminiscing about a dandy Davidson duo from the past: former Southern Conference Players of the Year Jake Cohen and De’Mon Brooks.

McKillop sees a similar post partnership developing between redshirt junior Pritchett and 6-10 freshman Luka Brajkovic.

“That’s given us quite a boost offensively,” said McKillop, whose team improved to 5-1 in the Atlantic 10 and 14-5 overall.

Pritchett, 7-of-10 from the floor Wednesday, is now 12-of-15 shooting the last two games. McKillop likes how he takes advantage of mismatches on the floor, and on Wednesday, that meant posting up smaller defenders.

“I’m able to try to use my strength and size to get positioning down there,” said Pritchett. 

Pritchett’s previous high of 14 points came against Akron at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii on Christmas Day, 2017.

“The great thing about KiShawn is he’s learning to use his strength and his deception,” said McKillop. “Sometimes he’s tried to overpower people with his quickness, but he doesn’t have that quickness anymore (after multiple knee injuries). He just doesn’t have it. He uses his change of speed and change of direction and his strength. We know he can pass out of any situation very well. We feel very confident about that.”

Kellan Grady chipped in with 16 points, while Brajkovic scored 14, Luke Frampton had 11 and Jon Axel Gudmundsson had 10.

Davidson led for more than 39 minutes, but pulled away with a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 66-52 with 6:06 left.

“I’m very, very pleased with this win because I see progress,” said McKillop.

George Washington (6-13, 2-4) was led by Justin Mazzulla and D.J. Williams, who scored 15 apiece.