Vanderbilt's Second Half Tops Georgetown, 68-61

Nov. 26, 2005

Postgame Notes
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Georgetown Quotes
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Vanderbilt Quotes
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Washington, D.C. - Vanderbilt connected on nearly 60 percent of its field goals in the second half and fought back from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat Georgetown, 68-61, in front of 7,526 fans in a non-league game on Saturday at MCI Center.

It was the first loss of the season for the Hoyas, who fall to 2-1 this year, while the visiting Commodores improve to 4-0.

The Commodores trailed by seven points at the break, 36-29, and tied the game at 39-all early in the second stanza before going on a 23-12 run over a span of 11:24. A layup from center Ted Skuchas with 3:42 increased the Commodores' lead to 64-54. The Hoyas would pull to within six points on a fast-break layup from senior guard Darrel Owens (Napoleonville, La./Assumption), but could not get any closer.

Paced by a strong first half, led by sophomore Jeff Green (Hyattsville, Md./Northwestern) and senior Brandon Bowman (Santa Monica, Calif./Westchester), the Hoyas raced out to an early lead, connecting on 57.7 percent of their first half shots (15-of-26). Vanderbilt scored the first 10 points of the second half, tying the game at 39-all on a free throw from Shan Foster with 15:35 to play. The team's traded baskets, with a Foster dunk giving the visitors a 41-39 lead and a three-pointer from freshman Marc Egerson (Wilmington, Del./Glasgow) giving it back to Georgetown, 42-41.

That would be the last Hoya lead as Vanderbilt got points from five different players during the decisive run.

Georgetown jumped out to an early lead in the game, with back-to-back three-pointers from Green and sophomore Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) giving the hosts a 6-0 lead. Hot shooting and intense defense - the Hoyas forced eight turnovers and blocked three shots - saw the lead grow to as many as 13 points during the first frame. The Commodores managed to cut the lead to two points, 15-13, but an 18-7 spurt - capped by a Green fast-break dunk - pushed the lead up to 33-20 with 4:18 to play.

Foster scored a game-high 20 points, connecting on 6-of-11 shots from the field, to lead Vanderbilt, while Mario Moore added 12 points.

Green led four scorers in doubles figures for the Hoyas, tallying 14 points and nine rebounds, while Wallace added 11 points, Bowman chipped in 12 points and nine boards and Owens added 10 points and five assists.

The Hoyas connected on 46.2 percent of their shots from the field (24-of-52), hit 27.3 percent of their three-pointers (6-of-22) and 63.6 percent of their free throws (7-of-11). The grabbed 29 rebounds, topping Vanderbilt, which finished with 28, and forced 14 turnovers. The Commodores shot 48.8 percent from the field (21-of-43), 61.5 percent from outside the arc (8-of-13) and 69.2 percent from the free throw line (18-of-26).

Georgetown returns to play on Saturday, December 3, traveling west to visit Pacific-10 power Oregon.

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