WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's men's basketball team cruised to a 68-53 victory over the visiting Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks on Tuesday night to open the 2018-19 season. The Hoyas had three in double figures and freshman
Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in his first game as a Hoya. The game also marked graduate student
Trey Mourning's (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades) first start of his career.
"He gave us energy and effort," Head Coach
Patrick Ewing said of Mourning. "He made the right plays and did a very good job on the defensive end."
Senior
Jessie Govan (Queens, N.Y. / Wings Academy) led all GU scorers with 13 points while LeBlanc and sophomore
Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy [Va.]) each chipped in 11. LeBlanc tallied 11 boards and Mourning and Govan recorded seven apiece. Freshman
James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) paced the offense with seven assists.
The Hoyas started off the game with a stingy defense, holding the Hawks to a mere four points through the first five minutes of regulation. A 3-pointer from Pickett pushed the Hoyas ahead 9-4 early. Five-straight points from The Shore knotted the game but the Blue & Gray staged a 7-0 run in just under a minute and a half, bolstered by a pair of treys from Akinjo for the 16-9 lead.
Eastern Shore inched back, pulling within three (18-15) but the Hoyas pulled away as the minutes ticked down. A pair of free throws from LeBlanc pushed the lead to double digits, 26-15, and Govan extended the advantage with five of his own behind a jumper inside and 3-pointer. The Hoyas went into the break with the 31-21 edge.
GU opened the second half with a quick seven points as Mourning chipped in two, freshman
Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City) added a dunk and Jamorko nailed a 3-pointer. A Govan triple extended the lead to 19 with 18:15 on the clock, Georgetown's largest at that point. Despite Eastern Shore stringing some buckets together, Georgetown managed to hold the double-digit lead through the remainder of the game. The Hoyas staged an 11-4 run with five different players contributing points. Senior
Greg Malinowski (Chantilly, Va. / Episcopal / William & Mary) sunk a pair of free throws to give the Blue & Gray its largest lead of the game at 21, 60-39 (5:33). Georgetown cruised to the 68-53 victory.
The Shore's A.J. Cheeseman led the Hawks with 19 points.
The Hoyas return to action on Saturday, November 10 as they welcome the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils to the Nation's Capital. Tipoff at Capital One Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be shown live on FS2 with Wayne Randazzo calling the play-by-play and Tarik Turner serving as the analyst. The game can be heard locally on The Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin in his 45th season on the call.
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For ticket information for upcoming games, please visit http://WeAreGeorgetown.com/tickets, call 202.687.HOYA (4692) or email hoyatickets@georgetown.edu.
