George Washington is known for its athleticism, from high-flying Pops Mensah-Bonsu's dunking to their speedy guards who always keep the tempo cranked. But the No. 7 Colonials can slow it down, too, and still dominate.

Maureece Rice scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and fellow guard Carl Elliott had all 13 of his after halftime as the Colonials played at Richmond's deliberate pace and beat the Spiders 64-51 on Saturday night. The victory came 13 days after George Washington nearly ran Richmond out of Washington, winning 80-55.

And it showed how ready the Colonials are for their ever-increasing stage.

"Reece is a flat-out scorer, and me, I'm the guy that's going to distribute the ball," Elliott said. "I think we play well off each other. If he's not feeling it, I may be feeling it, and if I'm not feeling it, he may be feeling it.

"Today it was good that we were both on together."

Rice made his first six shots, and Elliott had three second-half 3-pointers.

The pair enabled the Colonials (22-1, 12-0 Atlantic 10) to withstand a 23-point night by Richmond's Jermaine Bucknor, who made 6 of 9 from 3-point territory.

"If he doesn't make those threes, the game doesn't look like the pace had any effect on us," Colonials coach Karl Hobbs said. "He was just magnificent."

The loss was the sixth in a row for Richmond (11-14, 4-7), which continues to struggle to find the outside shooting to fit first-year coach Chris Mooney's style. Besides Bucknor, the Spiders were 4-for-24 from behind the arc, or 16.5 percent.

"I think we put ourselves in a position to win and if we made a few more shots fall, I think we would have been able to do that," Mooney said.

The Colonials led 35-22 at halftime and opened their lead to as many as 16 in the second half before Bucknor made three 3s in a three-minute span, allowing Richmond to pull to 50-43 and get the crowd of 8,182 thinking something was ready to happen.

Elliott responded, scoring eight of the Colonials' points in a 10-0 run to wipe away the suspense. Two 3-pointers just 40 seconds apart ended the burst. 

The victory was George Washington's first at the Robins Center since Dec. 22, 1979 and ended a five-game losing streak here, the last four as Atlantic 10 rivals.

It also showed Mooney how good the Colonials can be.

"One thing they don't get enough credit for is the way they pass the ball," he said. "I think everybody sees how fast they are and how athletic they are and they underestimate how skillful they are."

Mensah-Bonsu added 10 points and nine rebounds and Danilo Pinnock had 12 points and five assists for George Washington, which shot 52 percent overall.

Oumar Sylla added 12 points for the Spiders, who shot just 37.5 percent and were outrebounded 35-25. George Washington also outscored Richmond 36-14 in the paint.

The Colonials led 20-17 when Mensah-Bonsu sparked a 14-3 run with a huge fast break dunk in the first half. Five other players scored in the burst, and Pinnock finished it with another dunk, giving George Washington a 34-20 lead 1:13 before halftime.