1/2/2004
The Hoyas hung on to give Coach Esherick his 100th career victory on 1/3/04, defeating visiting Rutgers 63-57. Opening the year and the BIG EAST season with a victory raises Georgetown?s record to 10-0 this season and 14 of 15 including last year?s post season. Brandon Bowman paced all scorers with 20 points and led Georgetown?s rebounders with 9 caroms. Darrel Owens scored 14 for the third consecutive game and Courtland Freeman added 11. Gerald Riley, hobbled by fouls, scored a season low 9 points.
Apart from a period of less than a minute at the opening of the game, the Hoyas led throughout. Combining defensive intensity with opportunity scoring Georgetown led by as many as 18 in the first stanza. Although Rutgers twice cut the lead to single digits, the Hoyas took a 10 point lead into the locker room at intermission, 38-28.
In the second half the Scarlet Knights trailed by 8 to 14 points for the first 9 minutes. They came as close as ?5 with 8:05 remaining before the Hoyas ran off 5 unanswered. Leading by 10 with 6:29 remaining, the wheels suddenly came off for the Hoyas? fans. Over the next three and a half minutes Rutgers cut Georgetown?s lead to 2 and the 8,194 in attendance as well as the television audience saw a shift in momentum. After a flurry of misses and turnovers, Ashanti Cook stepped up with 00:17 on the clock to hit two free throws which, when augmented by Brandon Bowman two free throws with 00:02 remaining, gave the Hoyas a 6 point victory, 63-57.
