WASHINGTON – Despite St. John's opening with a 9-1 run in the overtime frame, the Hoyas closed to within two points. The Red Storm hit one final free throw, but GU could not find the equalizer as the Georgetown University men's basketball team fell 97-94 in overtime to the visiting St. John's University Red Storm. With the loss, the Hoyas slip to 11-4 on the year and an even 1-1 in BIG EAST Conference action. The Johnnies move to 14-1 on the season with a 2-1 mark in league action.
 
In front of an announced crowd of 11,115, the overtime frame opened with a 9-1 run for the Johnnies but the Hoyas didn't go away as Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) found an opening on the right side, drained a 3-pinter and drew the foul to pull within five 94-89. He made his free throw to make it a four-point game. A dunk for the Johnnies pushed the lead to six but Govan came up with a pair of free throws to trail 96-92 with 57.5 seconds on the clock. Greg Malinowski (Chantilly, Va. / Episcopal / William & Mary) drained two free throws to make it a one-possession game, 96-94, before SJU hit one final free throw to provide the 97-94 final score.
 
Govan led all Hoyas with 25 points to go with 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year while Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) recorded his fourth double-double on 12 points and a team-leading 13 boards. James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) added 17 while Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy [Va.]) and Malinowski each chipped in 13 to round out those in double figures. Malinowski paced the offense with seven assists while Pickett led the squad with three blocks. Georgetown shot 41.4 percent (29 of 70) from the field and outrebounded the Johnnies 47-32.
 
The Hoyas got on the board first as LeBlanc made his layup on a dish from Malinowski. St. John's had the answer but a Govan dunk gave the Hoyas the 4-2 advantage. A Malinowski free throw pushed the Hoyas ahead 5-3 but a pair of SJU jumpers swung the momentum in favor of the Red Storm. However, a Pickett jumper sparked a 12-2 run for the Blue & Gray with four different Hoyas chipping in to the effort as the Hoyas pulled ahead 17-9.
 
The teams traded buckets, but when an open Jahvon Blair (Brampton, Ontario / Athlete Institute Prep) drained his 3-pointer on the right side, the Hoyas took a double-digit lead 22-11. The Johnnies sandwiched triples around a LeBlanc tip-in to cut the deficit to seven, 24-17, but Blair came up with another 3-pointer, drew the foul and completed the four-point play for the Hoyas to again take an 11-point advantage 28-17.
 
A game of runs, SJU tallied six unanswered points to cut the lead to five but Pickett had the answer from deep to push GU's advantage back to eight 31-23. Govan floated in a jumper to pull GU ahead 33-25 but the Johnnies staged a 7-0 run to make it a one-point affair. At the line, Akinjo sunk four of four late in the frame to push the Hoyas ahead by five but the Johnnies strung together a quick 10 to move ahead 42-37. In the waning moments of the half, the Hoyas got the ball in Govan's hands who was able to drop in his layup to provide the 42-39 score at the break.
 
Coming out of the locker room, Pickett was the first to get in the scoring column as his layup cut the deficit to one. A Pickett block on defense resulted in the Hoyas finding Malinowski on the left side for the 3-pointer to knot the game at 44. The Red Storm hit the layup but the Blue & Gray answered right back with another Malinowski triple to take its first lead of the frame 47-46. An SJU bucket changed the lead again until Malinowski tied the game at 48 on a free throw.
 
The teams traded the lead but Georgetown was finding its point production at the line until Govan's finesse jumper floated in for the Hoyas to take the 54-52 advantage. The Johnnies connected from deep again but Govan again had the retort as his bucket provided the 56-55 lead. The senior center followed up with a dunk and LeBlanc came up with a layup of his own to provide the five-point cushion, 60-55. The Hoyas capped a 9-0 run with another Malinowski trey before the Johnnies could find the bottom of the net on another triple. Mosely's step-back 3-pointer raised the decibels at GU's downtown home as the Hoyas pulled ahead eight 66-58 but six unanswered for the Red Storm made it a two-point game 66-64.
 
Akinjo's pair of free throws extended the lead to a two-possession game until an SJU triple cut it back to one. Akinjo tallied the next five points on a triple and a duo of free throws to give the Blue & Gray a bit of breathing room but St. John's went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead 74-73. Akino again came up with the rebuttal as he sunk two from the charity stripe to put GU ahead 75-74. A defensive stop gave the Hoyas possession and Pickett hit a layup from a Govan dish to extend the advantage to three. St. John's tied the game up on free throws 77-77 but Pickett's 3-pointer pushed the GU lead to 80-77. Forcing a turnover, the Hoyas kept pushing and Jagan Mosely (Marlboro, N.J. / St. Anthony) was able to get the second-chance layup for the five-point advantage.
 
Up three with less than a minute to play, Govan hit two free throws to give the Hoyas the 84-79 lead. SJU answered with a layup to cut it to three and give possession back to the Blue & Gray. Govan put the ball in the hands of Pickett who was able to draw the foul with 18.6 seconds left in regulation and hit his second of a pair of free throws. The Red Storm hit four free throws in the closing seconds to tie the game at 85 and send the game to overtime.
 
Shamorie Ponds led the Red Storm with 37 points. St. John's shot 53.0 percent (35 of 66) from the field.  
 
The Hoyas return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 9 as they travel to Cincinnati, Ohio for a BIG EAST tilt at Xavier. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Cintas Center and the game will be shown live on FS1. The contest can be heard locally on 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.