12/20/2002
Georgetown won again on 12/20/02, defeating the Bison of Howard 91-66, and bringing their streak to seven. Mike Sweetney scored 23 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as he earned his 26th double-double. Mike also led the team in blocked shots with 4. Tony Bethel matched his career high in scoring with 20 points (7 of 10 from the field, 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and 3 of 3 from the line). Tony also had 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. Gerald Riley and Wesley Wilson each contributed 13 points, and Wesley just missed a double-double with 9 rebounds.
The Hoyas had problems in the opening frame, building leads of 14 and 16 points only to see the scrappy Bison whittle them back to single digits. Despite shooting 53.1 % (17-32) the Hoyas sloppy ball handling and sporadic rebounding left them only a 7 point margin 44-37 at intermission.
In the second stanza the Hoyas played a much better brand of basketball. They shot 66.7% (16-24) while holding Howard to 28.6% (10-35). GU also improved its rebounding, although Coach Esherick said after the game that boxing out was still very much a point of emphasis that needed attention. The Hoyas outscored the Bison 47-29 for the half.
For the game the Hoyas shot 58.9% while holding their opponents to 33.3%. The Hoyas won the battle of the boards 40-37 and blocked 10 shots to Howard?s three.
