MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – The Georgetown University men's basketball team closed the game on seven unanswered points, stifling a surging La Salle team in the waning minutes of regulation as the Hoyas defeated the Explorers 69-62 in the consolation game of the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic on Sunday. As the Hoyas get back to their winning ways, they improve to 3-2 on the season while the Explorers slip to 2-3.
ON THE RECORD
"I thought we started out great. We got up by 20 points, the energy was led there by
Akok Akok - his fire, his ability to block shots, even though he missed his first few shots in the first half - but I thought his energy in the first half was the reason we got the win. We made it a lot tougher than we wanted it to be in the second half but we were able to find a way to win."
- Head Coach
Patrick Ewing on the game
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS
- Center Qudus Wahab led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting. He grabbed seven boards and tallied a pair of blocks in the game.
- Guard Brandon Murray was the other Hoya in double figures with 16 points on seven made field goals. He dished out a pair of assists to go along with six rebounds.
- Forward Akok Akok led the Hoyas on the glass with 10 boards while also chiping in four points, three rejections and a pair of assists.
- Jay Heath's three assists paced the offense while he added in nine points, five rebounds and one steal.
- The Hoyas shot 42.4% (25-59) for the game while holding La Salle to 38.5% shooting (25-65).
- GU outrebounded the Explorers 42-40 and held a 40-34 advantage in the paint.
- The Blue & Gray forced 13 La Salle turnovers but committed 14 of its own.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Georgetown's defense opened strong, suffocating La Salle and holding the Explorers scoreless until 16:17 in the first half as the Hoyas jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes of play.
- The Blue & Gray extended it to 16-2 behind a jumper and free throw each from Wahab and Heath.
- GU's lead ballooned to as many as 25 behind back-to-back Wahab buckets followed by a Denver Anglin fastbreak trey.
- La Salle wouldn't go away, cutting the deficit to 16 but a pair of layups, one each from Ryan Mutombo and Heath, pushed the Georgeotwn lead to 41-21 going into the break.
- The Explorers came out of the break firing, cutting the lead to 13 (45-32) on an 11-4 run to open the frame. However, the Hoyas staged a 9-2 run to regain the 20-point advantage (54-34) fueled by buckets from Murray, Heath and Akok along with a Bryson Mozone triple.
- La Salle found another gear as the Hoyas struggled offensively, knotting the game at 62 before a Wahab bucket sparked seven unanswered for Georgetown as the Hoyas sealed the 69-62 victory.
OF NOTE
- For his efforts, Wahab was named to the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic All-Tournament Team. Over the two games, Wahab averaged 17.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg and shot 62.5% (10-16) from the floor.
- In the first bucket of the game, Wahab tallied his 800th collegiate point.
UP NEXT
The Hoyas return to the friendly confines of Capital One Arena for a matchup against American University on Wednesday, November 23. Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and will be televised on FS2. Locally, fans can hear the radio call of Rich Chvotkin on The Team 980.