And so it ended, at high speed.

The second year of the Steve Lappas era is over, with last night’s 85-74 loss to George Washington (12-16, 6-11 Atlantic 10) in the first round of the A-10 Tournament.

GW senior Chris Monroe led all scorers with 23 points, exactly the number he needed to set a new school record for points in a career, with 2,227.

Monroe, who missed Sunday’s film session and Monday’s early shoot-around due to sickness, shot 10-for-14 from the free throw line while adding nine rebounds and four assists to his record-setting evening.

“(Monroe) is not allowed to shoot around ever again,” said George Washington coach Karl Hobbs, whose team now heads to Dayton, Ohio for the rest of the tournament. GW will take on No. 11 Xavier on Thursday at noon.

The Colonials wore the Minutemen out with a breakneck tempo, as the undermanned UMass squad couldn’t keep up with GW down the stretch.

“For the first time this season, I thought we were really worn out,” UMass coach Steve Lappas said.

GW jumped out to a quick lead after halftime and never trailed again. Sophomore guard T.J. Thompson hit the clincher, a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:28 remaining, to give his team an insurmountable 10-point advantage.

Thompson finished the game with 16 points and five assists in 40 minutes of play.

The Minutemen kept up with the Colonials through the first half, as a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from freshman Mike Lasme evened the score at 45-45 at the break.

But despite the tied game, Lappas wasn’t pleased with the way things were going.

“The pace in the first half wasn’t good for us,” said the former Villanova coach, whose team came into the game averaging 61 points. “The game continued to get played at that pace.”

And the Minutemen ran out of gas in the second half, as the Colonials were able to increase their lead little by little while UMass players were short-arming jumphooks on offense and forced to foul when they were beat on defense.

GW freshman Mike Hall set a career-high with 19 points in the contest, while Tamal Forchion chipped in with 14.

Maroon and White senior Jackie Rogers scored 11 points in the first 3:38, as UMass jumped out to an early 14-7 lead. Rogers finished his UMass career with 19 points and seven rebounds. Classmate Micah Brand scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in his final game in the maroon and white. Both received standing ovations from the crowd upon leaving the court.

Second-year point guard Anthony Anderson led all Minutemen with 20 points.