NEW YORK – The Georgetown University men's basketball team avenged an earlier season loss and earned a crucial road win in BIG EAST Conference play with an 89-78 win over St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 13-7 on the season with a 3-4 mark in BIG EAST play.
 
Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City) poured in 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting including a quartet of triples to lead three in double figures. Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) scored 20 points to go with a team-best nine rebounds and three blocks while Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) added 15 points and six boards to round out those in double-figure scoring. James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) dished out seven assists aided by five helpers from McClung to pace the offense. The Blue & Gray shot 46.9 percent (30 of 64) from the floor and 48.1 percent (13 of 27) from deep. The Hoyas outrebounded the Johnnies 41-34 and the GU bench tallied 12 to SJU's eight.
 
"This was a total team effort," Head Coach Patrick Ewing said. "A total team win. Everyone did something key to help us secure this win."
 
Opening the game with a block on the defensive end, Govan got the Hoyas in the scoring column with an early 3-pointer. However, St. John's answered with six straight. A McClung triple knotted the score at six as both teams traded baskets to follow. LeBlanc found an opening from deep on an Akinjo dish and McClung followed up with another trey to push the Hoyas ahead 12-8. A battle from distance, St. John's closed to within one with a 3-pointer.
 
The game went back and forth through the first seven minutes and a conventional three-point play from Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy) gave the Hoyas a 15-13 lead. The Red Storm had the retort and took a one-point advantage but Akinjo drained a 3-pointer to regain the GU lead. St. John's knotted the score once again but McClung's driving layup put the Blue & Gray ahead 20-18. McClung followed with a jumper to pull ahead four but the Red Storm strung together six in a row to swing the advantage back to SJU.
 
Kaleb Johnson (South Hill, Va. / The Carlisle School) ended the drought for the Hoyas with a hook shot under the basket to tie up the score again. Govan's layup followed, as he drew the foul and completed the conventional three-point play for the Hoyas to take a 27-24 lead. Despite the Johnnies closing to within one, Georgetown fired off five-straight points, a Govan bucket inside before an Akinjo triple, to take the 32-26 lead.
 
SJU would not go away, scoring the next four points before a Govan jumper on the left gave the Hoyas some breathing room. St. John's made it a one-possession game before the Blue & Gray managed a pair of buckets to lead 38-32. St. John's continued to chip away at the lead, aided by a triple, until McClung managed a steal and drew the foul to provide the 41-37 score going into the break.
 
The Red Storm opened the second frame with five-consecutive points to take the 42-41 lead. On GU's next possession, Govan drove the basket, drew the foul and hit his first free throw to tie the game at 42. Off the rebound on the second free throw, Govan sunk a shot from deep to go up three. The teams traded buckets as Pickett found the bottom of the net on a triple but SJU tied the game at 50 from the charity stripe. A Pickett 3-pointer paired with a LeBlanc dunk propelled the Hoyas to a 55-50 lead.
 
McClung sunk a pair of free throws and Jagan Mosely (Marlboro, N.J. / St. Anthony) made his 3-pointer on the left side to cap GU's 10-0 run for the 60-50 lead, its largest of the game at that point. St. John's strung together five-straight to close the gap until Johnson drove through traffic to make his layup. Jahvon Blair (Brampton, Ont. / Athlete Institute Prep) knocked down a 3-pointer and Govan tallied another bucket for the Hoyas to lead by double digits, 67-57.
 
The Red Storm scored five to pull within as many until a McClung 3-pointer ended the short run and put the Blue & Gray back up eight. St. John's answered back with a jumper but McClung was good from downtown again for the 73-64 lead. A trip to the line and a layup cut SJU's deficit to five before a pair of LeBlanc free throws cushioned the Hoya lead.
 
The Johnnies scored four straight to make it a one-possession game. Trips to the line for both squads made it a 79-75 game with less than two minutes to play. Despite SJU closing to two, the Hoyas were able to get out on the fast break and McClung's dunk silenced the raucous crowd of 17,801 fans. Georgetown followed up with a LeBlanc layup to put the game out of reach for the Johnnies. Late free throws and a final dunk from LeBlanc provided the 89-78 score at the final whistle.
 
SJU's Shamorie Ponds led the Red Storm with 21 points. St. John's (15-5, 3-5 BIG EAST) shot 38.2 percent (29 of 76) from the field. 
 
The Hoyas return home to welcome the Xavier University Musketeers to the Nation's Capital on Thursday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. at Capital One Arena and can be seen live on CBS Sports Network. The game can be heard locally on The Team 980 and on SiriusXM channel 81 with Rich Chvotkin calling the action.