WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's basketball team pushed past the visiting Lehigh University Mountain Hawks in front of a sold out crowd of 2,008, made up of mostly students, at McDonough Arena. With the on-campus win, the Hoyas open the season at 1-0 while the Mountain Hawks slip to 0-2 on the year.
 
ON THE RECORD
"I really enjoyed our preparation leading up to the game. Obviously, happy about the win. I thought Lehigh did an incredible job bouncing back from their game the other day when they played Northwestern. They made a lot of tough shots. They made shots early. They made shots late. Credit to Micah (Peavy). I thought he really got us going with his energy and his toughness, getting to the rim. Once the game settled in, we got our feet underneath us. I really thought Lehigh played great and I give them a lot of credit, really a lot of credit. And obviously, very, very happy with the win. We'll have a preparation day tomorrow. We'll clean up what we did today and prepare for Fairfield, and continue to try to move forward." - Head Coach Ed Cooley
 
"Yeah, I felt like in the first half I was just trying to get used to the college game in general. In the second half my teammates were telling me to just lock in, you know, and just dominate. We just had to come out with a different type of energy and to just get in a good winning mindset. It also felt really good to wear the new threads for the first time." - Thomas Sorber
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Micah Peavy and Thomas Sorber both led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with 20 points each.
• In his first collegiate game, Sorber managed a double-double with a squad-best 13 rebounds and 10 made free throws.
• Jayden Epps and Malik Mack also managed double figures scoring 17 and 15 respectively.
• Mack paced the Hoya offense with five assists followed by Epps who chipped in three.
• Peavy and Sorber both led the squad in steals with three apiece while Sorber and Jordan Burks each recorded a pair of blocks.
• Georgetown shot 48.4% from the floor narrowly edging the Mountain Hawks who shot 47.5%.
• The Blue & Gray were dominant on the glass pulling down 42 rebounds to Lehigh's 26. The Hoyas recorded eight blocks to the Mountain Hawks' one.

 
LEHIGH HIGHLIGHTS

• Keith Higgins Jr. led the Mountain Hawks with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, with 12 of Higgins' 22 points coming from beyond the arc.
• Cam Gillus chipped in 21 points while Hanke Alvey (14) and Tyler Whitney-Sydney (13) rounded out those in double figures.
• On the glass, Gillus and Whitney-Sidney pulled down eight boards apiece.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mack opened the scoring early for the Hoyas as a raucous student crowd rose to their feet. A defensive stop on the other end kept it loud in McDonough.
• As Lehigh was hot from deep, the Mountain Hawks took an eight-point advantage (24-16) before a triple from Julius Halaifonua sparked nine unanswered from the Blue & Gray, capped by three-straight buckets from the trio of Epps, Peavy and Mack as GU took the 25-24 lead (10:35).
• Lehigh continued to find an answer on the offensive end, pulling ahead again by as many as five (39-34) down the stretch.
• The Hoyas closed the stanza on a 10-point run fueled by eight points from a seemingly unstoppable Peavy. Georgetown took a 44-39 lead into the break.
• Georgetown extended its run into the second frame with a Mack layup on the fast break before a Lehigh triple ended the run.
• A pair of Sorber buckets extended the lead back to eight but the Mountain Hawks once again found the answer on the offensive end with seven-straight points to pull within one (50-49) before an Epps 3-pointer gave the Hoyas some breathing room.
• Both teams traded buckets before Sorber completed the three-point play at the line to make it a two-possession game (63-58) with less than 10 minutes to play.
• Four-straight points for GU extended the lead to nine (77-68) prompting a 30-second timeout from the Mountain Hawks.
• Out of the huddle, a steal on the defensive end led to a Mack jumper as GU took its first double-digit lead of the game at 79-68 with 3:31 remaining. A putback from Burks gave the sophomore his first points of the game and forced Lehigh to call its final timeout with 1:23 to play.
• Georgetown went on to secure the 85-77 win at the final whistle.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown returns to action on Saturday, November 9 when the team plays its first game at its downtown home. The Hoyas welcome the Fairfield University Stags to Capital One Arena with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS2 with Scott Graham calling the play-by-play and Dave Leitao providing analysis. The game can be heard locally on The Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin, in his 51st season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.
 
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