WASHINGTON – Using a second half surge, the Georgetown University men's basketball squad evened its season series with an 80-73 win over the visiting Xavier University Musketeers at Capital One Arena on Thursday night. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 14-7 on the season with an even 4-4 mark in BIG EAST play. 
 
James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) led all scorers with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting including a 4-of-7 clip from beyond the arc and a perfect 7-of-7 effort from the charity stripe. Akinjo led a quartet in double figures as Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) added 17 on 8-of-11 shooting followed by Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) with 12 and Mac McClung (Gate City, Va. / Gate City) with 11. Govan led the squad with six rebounds and a trio of blocks. McClung's five assists paced the offense. Georgetown shot 50.0 percent from the floor on 28-of-56 shooting and hit all eight of its 3-pointers in the second half. XU outrebounded GU on the glass 37-26.
 
"We were fighting," Georgetown Head Coach Patrick Ewing said. "If you take a look at all of the games in the BIG EAST, all of them come down to the end. We fought, we scratched, we clawed. Everyone that played did an outstanding job."
 
Despite an early lead for Xavier, the Hoyas looked to LeBlanc with back-to-back buckets down low to cut the deficit to 9-4. The Hoyas got as close as four, 10-6, following a pair of free throws from Kaleb Jonson (South Hill, Va. / The Carlisle School) but Xavier capitalized on cold shooting from the Hoyas to take a 19-9 lead early. A LeBlanc dunk coupled with a pair of McClung free throws brought the Blue & Gray within eight, 21-13.
 
McClung sunk a layup to spark a GU run and another LeBlanc dunk on the McClung dish brought the crowd to its feet as the Hoyas cut the gap to six. Govan floated his jumper as the Hoyas trailed 23-19. The Musketeers scored five unanswered to a comfortable nine-point advantage but Govan and McClung combined for a pair of buckets to answer right back. XU led by as many as nine down the stretch but Govan put together a traditional three-point play to pull within six. A Xavier bucket before the buzzer provided the 36-28 halftime score.
 
Georgetown opened the second frame with a layup from LeBlanc, who drew the foul and converted the three-point play. Xavier retorted with a 3-pointer before the Blue & Gray tallied seven straight, bolstered by a trio of frosh buckets, one each from McClung, LeBlanc and Akinjo. Akinjo's three-point play pulled the Hoyas within one, 39-38, but the Musketeers drained another 3-pointer to lead 42-38. The teams traded points as GU continued to chip away at the deficit. Akinjo had the hot hand from downtown and sunk back-to-back triples but XU managed to sink one to answer back each time.
 
A battle from beyond the arc ensued as Govan knocked down a trey only for XU to find the answer again. It was Jagan Mosely's (Marlboro, N.J. / St. Anthony) turn as he cut the deficit back to one with 10:23 on the clock. Georgetown got the stop on the other end and LeBlanc got the tough bucket to bring up the decibel level as the Hoyas took its first lead of the game 58-57. Another Mosely triple pushed the Blue & Gray ahead forcing the XU timeout.
 
The teams traded baskets until a 3-pointer for the Musketeers knotted the game at 63 with 7:24 in regulation. Xavier pulled ahead on a 3-pointer but Akinjo nailed his third trey to take the lead right back 67-66. An XU bucket was sandwiched between triples from Trey Mourning (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades) and Akinjo for the five-point advantage. As the Musketeers made it a one-possession ball game, Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy [Va.]) came up with a big offensive rebound and the layup to put the game out of reach 75-70. Late free throws and a final triple for the Musketeers provided the 80-73 score at the final whistle.
 
Xavier's Naji Marshall led the Musketeers with 16 points. Xavier (11-11, 3-6 BIG EAST) shot 46.6 percent (27 of 58) from the field. 
 
The Hoyas hit the road for a matchup against the conference-leading Villanova University Wildcats on Sunday. Tipoff at Wells Fargo Center is scheduled for noon and the game can be seen live on FS1. The game can be heard locally on The Team 980 and on SiriusXM with Rich Chvotkin calling the action.

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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.