NIT Championship 2016: Valparaiso vs. George Washington Score, Twitter Reaction

The George Washington Colonials captured the school's first postseason tournament title Thursday evening with a 76-60 win over the Valparaiso Crusaders in the National Invitation Tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

George Washington's triumph capped off a stellar—and improbable—NIT run. After closing out the season by losing three of their final five games, including the Atlantic 10 tournament, the Colonials ripped off wins over the Monmouth Hawks, Florida Gators and San Diego Aztecs despite entering the NIT as a No. 4 seed.

The Colonials commemorated the moment with a post on Twitter:

Matching up against the nation's sixth-ranked defense, George Washington shot 44.2 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from three-point range as it rode the production of Patricio Garino, Kevin Larsen and Tyler Cavanaugh. 

Garino and Larsen finished with 14 and 18 points, respectively, while Cavanaugh closed out his season with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting and a sweet behind-the-back dime in the first half, as ESPN College Bball documented on Twitter:

"

No look dime. https://t.co/ZSgBTNbcKe

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) April 1, 2016"

Alec Peters was superb for Valparaiso with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, but the Crusaders shot just 39 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three in the loss. 

Vashil Fernandez finished with a modest six points and six rebounds, but he blocked five shots to make a little history, according to the Crusaders' official Twitter account: 

The Colonials entered Thursday's title game with a superior offense, but there wasn't a stark disparity in efficiency early on. George Washington ranked 27th in adjusted efficiency—sandwiched between Maryland and St. Bonaventure—while Valparaiso occupied the 116th spot on the same list, but both sides struggled to establish a rhythm.

Unlike Tuesday's semifinal win over BYU, the Crusaders failed to convert open opportunities from beyond the arc to create some distance—missing seven of their first 10 long-range attempts. However, George Washington couldn't take advantage as its offense stalled throughout the latter stages of the first half.  

If there was good news for the Colonials, it was that they entered halftime up by one despite shooting 37.5 percent from the field and committing five turnovers two days after coughing the ball up just six times against San Diego State. 

The Atlantic 10 squad found some footing to open the second half as it ripped off a 7-2 run during the first two minutes, 11 seconds of the final frame, and that spurt set the tone for a second half that was unkind to the Crusaders.

Valparaiso went cold for swaths of the season's final stanza, and it couldn't recover as the Colonials kept their distance after establishing a double-digit cushion, thanks in part to Matt Hart, as ESPN College Bball showed:

"

"That's Steph Curry long!" https://t.co/vMCMffB4u3

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) April 1, 2016"

Beyond the fact that Thursday's win represented the first postseason tournament title in program history, the Colonials should be encouraged by one small fact: According to ESPN Stats & Info, 56 percent of teams that have won the NIT since 1985 have gone on to qualify for the NCAA tournament the following year. 

In a conference that includes NCAA tournament qualifiers such as Virginia Commonwealth, St. Joseph's and Dayton, emerging as the cream of the crop won't be easy for George Washington. 

But based on the work head coach Mike Lonergan did this season with an unheralded group, the Colonials should enter next season with all the confidence in the world as they seek to return to the NCAA tournament for the fifth time since 2005. 

Postgame Reaction

George Washington's official Twitter account passed along a picture of the team celebrating following the big win: 

Meanwhile, Comcast SportsNet's Brent Harris relayed a video of Colonials players hoisting up Lonergan on their shoulders in order for him to cut down the MSG nets: 

On the flip side, Fernandez and Valpo head coach Bryce Drew spoke in glowing terms about this year's team, via Emily Van Buskirk of the Sports Fan Journal: 

"We made them look bad, so I give our guys credit, but that's a heck of a team," Lonergan said of Valpo, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). 

Advanced stats courtesy of KenPom.com unless noted otherwise.