WASHINGTON – Trailing by three with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation, the Hoyas looked to freshman
Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City) who came up with the buzzer beater to tie the game and send the tilt against Providence to overtime. In a similar situation at the end of the first overtime frame, this time with 10.5 seconds remaining, the Hoyas called upon fellow freshman
James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) who also drained his 3-pointer to send the game to its second overtime where the Hoyas prevailed over the visiting Friars 96-90 in a double-overtime thriller. The Hoyas improve to 12-5 on the season with a 2-2 mark in BIG EAST Conference play.
Senior
Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) led all scorers with a career-high 33 points on 11-of-26 shooting and an 8-for-11 effort at the free throw line. He recorded his sixth double-double of the season as he grabbed a game-best 14 rebounds and totaled four rebounds in the contest. Akinjo was second on the team in scoring with 20 points and McClung rounded out those in double figures with 16. Freshman
Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) grabbed double-digit boards for the eighth time this season as he pulled down 11 and added four blocks to the effort. Akinjo paced the offense with nine assists.
"We weren't down that much but we had to crawl back into the game and we were able to do that and show some heart," Govan said. "Even when we were down three in both overtimes, guys were able to step up and make shots. I think that shows a lot about our team and about our heart."
Though Providence scored first, McClung had the answer out of the gates for the Hoyas as he tallied the first five points on a jumper and a 3-pointer for a 5-4 GU lead. As the Friars scored five straight to take the 9-4 advantage it was Govan and Akinjo who each tallied three points to swing the lead back to the Blue & Gray 11-9.
The Hoyas managed to tie the ball game at 13 but slipped behind again on a pair of PC buckets. Akinjo's layup pulled GU within two but the Friars continued to increase the gap and took a six-point lead at 23-17. Govan found an opening and floated his shot in to pull the Hoyas within four. Providence staged a 9-4 run capped by a 3-pointer to pull ahead 32-23 before Akinjo found an open LeBlanc who came down with the dunk to cut the deficit to seven.
Kaleb Johnson (South Hill, Va. / The Carlisle School) managed the steal on defense and finished the play on the other end with the layup. On the next GU possession,
Jagan Mosely's (Marlboro, N.J. / St. Anthony) coast-to-coast layup pulled the Blue & Gray back within seven.
Grayson Carter (Dallas, Texas / Denton Guyer) stepped back and drained the second 3-pointer of his career to extend GU's run that was capped on a Johnson fast break layup. Closing the frame on a 9-0 run, the Hoyas pulled within two to trail 36-34 at the half.
Coming out of the break Providence hit a triple to extend its lead to five but the Hoyas tallied five unanswered, including a
Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy [Va.]) dunk, to knot the score at 39. Georgetown looked to Govan with the layup to pull within one but the Friars had the retort with a layup of their own. The Hoyas again found Govan who had the dagger to tie the game tied at 44. A PC bucket brought the momentum back but an open Akinjo hit a trey pushed the lead in favor of the Blue & Gray 47-46. The Hoyas extended the run to 8-0 on a Govan layup followed by another Carter triple. PC's bucket with 9:55 in regulation ended the run and cut the gap to four, 52-48.
After a Friar trip to the line cut it to two, Mosely sunk his layup to make it a two-possession game. Providence strung together five for the one-point advantage before Govan's floater gave the edge back to Georgetown. It was a game of runs as PC tallied five before the Hoyas scored four unanswered to knot the game at 60. Providence controlled the next few minutes of play, leading by as many as five, 68-63, but a Govan triple made it a two-point affair.
Greg Malinowski (Chantilly, Va. / Episcopal / William & Mary) sunk a pair from the charity stripe to tie the game at 68 with 1:44 to play.
With 50.8 seconds left on the clock and possession, the Hoyas worked the ball around the court to an open Govan with the dunk. With 25 seconds left, Providence was able to kick the ball out to an open Alpha Diallo who knocked down the 3-pointer. Providence hit a pair of free throws to pull ahead 73-30 with 3.9 seconds left on the clock. The Hoyas drew up the play and McClung stormed down the court and drained a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 73.
The Friars struck first in overtime with a pair of free throws but McClung came up with the play again tying the game at 75. The Hoyas came up with defensive stops and Akinjo tallied three points to put the Hoyas ahead 78-75. A PC triple tied up the ball game but McClung had the layup under the basket. PC fired off a pair of treys to take the 84-80 advantage but Akinjo drew the foul on his 3-pointer attempt and drained all three free throws to pull within one 84-83. PC hit a pair of free throws to take the three-point lead with 10.5 seconds to play. This time it was Akinjo's hot hand with the deep 3-pointer to send the game to its second overtime tied at 86.
Providence got on the scoreboard first in the second overtime but Govan sunk a pair of free throws to tie the game. Akinjo's bucket put the Hoyas ahead 90-88 but the Friars pulled within one from the charity stripe. McClung's layup extended the advantage to three. After PC hit a free throw to pull within two, Govan drained a free throw for the 93-90 lead with 38 seconds on the clock. The Hoyas sunk three free throws in the final seconds of the game for the 96-90 double-overtime win.
Providence's Diallo led the Friars with 24 points. Providence shot 42.3 percent (33 of 78) from the field.
The Hoyas return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 15 as they welcome the No. 21/19 Marquette University Golden Eagles to the Nation's Capital. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena and the game will be shown live on FS1. The game can be heard locally The Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin calling the game.
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For tickets, please visit
WeAreGeorgetown.com or contact the Georgetown Athletic Ticket Office at 202.687.HOYA (4692) or
hoyatickets@georgetown.edu.