NIT 2016: Box Score, Stats, Highlights from George Washington vs. Valparaiso

George Washington had never won a postseason tournament of any kind. After beating Valparaiso 76-60 in the NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden Thursday night, that's no longer the case.

The Colonials (28-10) were not a happy group following their exclusion from the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday, but head coach Mike Lonergan's team dominated in the second half and pulled away from favored Valparaiso (30-7) to earn a convincing win.

The Colonials were led by Tyler Cavanaugh during their five-game run in the NIT. He averaged 19.4 points per game during George Washington's run and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Cavanaugh scored 12 points in the win over the Crusaders.

While the NIT has long been regarded as a secondary tournament, Lonergan believes his team is headed in the right direction.

“I’m really happy for those guys because they helped get our program, which is a great program with tradition, they helped put us back on the map,” Lonergan told Gene Wang of the Washington Post. “But we’re not there yet. I want to get to the NCAAs and make a run there, but this is a great stepping stone.”

George Washington used two key advantages to seize control of the game. The Colonials made 22 of 26 free-throw attempts and went toward the rim aggressively throughout the game, while the Crusaders went to the line just six times and did not miss any of those chances.

The other advantage came in the form of a 16-4 run early in the second half. That allowed George Washington to stretch a one-point lead to 13 points and gave them control of the game throughout the final 20 minutes.

Once George Washington increased the lead from nine to 12 points on a three-pointer from reserve guard Matt Hart with just over 12 minutes to play, the Crusaders were never able to get closer than 10 points throughout the rest of the game.

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The Colonials simply had more scoring and executed their offense more consistently than the Crusaders. George Washington had four scorer in double figures, as Cavanaugh was joined by Kevin Larsen, Patricio Garino and Joe McDonald. Alec Peters had 15 points for Valparaiso, but he was the only Crusader in double figures.

The other key edge evidenced in the box score came on the defensive end. George Washington had six steals and turned the ball over eight times, while Valparaiso registered just two steals and turned the ball over 14 times.