CINCINNATI – The Georgetown University men's basketball team could not hold off a second-half comeback from the Xavier University Musketeers as the Hoyas fell 81-75 on the road Wednesday night. With the loss, the Hoyas slip to 11-5 on the season with a 1-2 mark in BIG EAST play. Xavier improves to 10-7 for the year with an even 2-2 mark in league action.
Senior
Jessie Govan (Queens Village, N.Y. / Wings Academy) led all scorers with 27 points on the evening. Freshman
James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) and senior
Greg Malinowski (Chantilly, Va. / Episcopal) chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, to round out those in double figures. Govan and freshman
Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La. / Madison Prep Academy) each grabbed eight rebounds to lead the squad on the glass. Malinowski and Akinjo paced the offense as they dished out six assists apiece. For the game, the Hoyas shot 43.1 percent (25 of 58) from the field but were outrebounded 36-32 by the Musketeers.
Xavier got off to a quick start as the Hoyas were forced to rely on the 3-pointer early to keep the score even. Georgetown pulled ahead 9-6 on its third triple of the game, this one from Akinjo, but Xavier would score seven of the next nine points to pull ahead 13-11. However, the Blue & Gray got hot and staged a 17-2 run that spanned more than four minutes of play to take a commanding 28-15 advantage. The run was highlighted by four different Hoyas contributing points including seven in a row from Govan as he sandwiched a triple between a jumper and a layup.
Malinowski, already proven from beyond the arc, continued his stellar play from all over the floor as he sunk his driving layup to push the Hoyas ahead 35-20. The Hoyas took their largest lead of the game on a LeBlanc dunk off the Malinowski dish to pull ahead 39-22. However, Xavier would not go away and continued to chip away and tallied 12 unanswered to close the frame.
The Hoyas went into the locker room with the 39-34 advantage but the momentum had swung to the Musketeers in the closing minutes of the half.
Xavier tied the game up early in the second half but Govan scored four points on back-to-back buckets to regain the lead 43-39. The Musketeers would not go away as they continued to push and made it a one-possession game, 43-41. Xavier found luck from downtown to move ahead 44-43 lead, its first lead since the first half. The game went back and forth with both teams taking the lead and a Malinowski free throw knotted it at 46 only to be tied once again at 47, this time on an XU free throw. As the Blue & Gray slipped behind,
Jagan Mosely (Marlboro, N.J. / St. Anthony) found an open Akinjo who drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 50.
A Govan bucket gave the Hoyas the 54-52 edge but nine unanswered Musketeer points gave Xavier the 61-54 lead. Akinjo sunk a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to five and
Kaleb Johnson (South Hill, Va. / The Carlisle School) dropped in a layup on the fast break to make it a one-possession game 61-58.
Xavier managed four-straight points to get some breathing room before
Jahvon Blair (Brampton, Ontario / Athlete Institute Prep) sunk a free throw to trail 65-59. Govan hit from downtown to cut the lead to five but Xavier continued to find ways to score and maintain the lead. The last few possessions resulted in trips to the charity stripe and Govan and
Jamorko Pickett (Washington, D.C. / Massanutten Military Academy [Va.]) sunk a pair apiece to trail by three, 75-72. XU continued to take trips to the line but a late 3-pointer from Akinjo gave the Hoyas a glimmer of hope trailing 79-75. However, two more Musketeer free throws provided the final 81-75 score.
Xavier's Zach Hankins led the Musketeers with 23 points. Xavier shot 46.7 percent (28 of 60) from the field.
The Hoyas return to action on Saturday, Jan. 12 as they welcome the Providence College Friars to the Nation's Capital. Tipoff is scheduled for noon 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.
--
For tickets, please visit WeAreGeorgetown.com or contact the Georgetown Athletic Ticket Office at 202.687.HOYA (4692) or hoyatickets@georgetown.edu.
