WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's basketball team defeated the Saint Peter's Peacocks in overtime on the Hilltop at McDonough Arena on Saturday afternoon, 76-68. With the win, Georgetown improves to 7-3 on the season while Saint Peter's slips to 4-5.
 
ON THE RECORD
"I think you have got to give credit to Saint Peter's. I thought they were tough. We went into the game knowing that they would press, that they were a good offensive rebounding team. I coached in the MAAC and it's a hard league." - Head Coach Ed Cooley on Saint Peter's
 
I thought [Jeremiah Williams] was the player of the game for sure - his energy, his toughness, guarding the ball, being disruptive. Clearly, great job. That's what we need. That's exactly what we need. He clearly changed the game, especially in overtime."- Head Coach Ed Cooley on Jeremiah Williams
 
HOYA HIGHLIGHTS

• Julius Halaifonua led a trio of Hoyas in double figures with a career-high 22 points on 75.0% (9-12) shooting from the field. He also added a squad-best nine rebounds to go along with a squad-best two blocks.
• Caleb Williams was second on the team in scoring with 14 points on a 4-for-8 performance from the field, including a pair of triples and a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the charity stripe. He added eight rebounds, three assists and one steal.
• Jeremiah Williams came off the bench to round out those in double figures with 10 points on 60.0% (3-5) shooting and 80.0% (4-5) from the charity stripe while dishing out a pair of assists.
• KJ Lewis paced the offense with five assists while Malik Mack added four.
• Georgetown shot 48.0% (24-50) for the game and was 66.6% (24-36) from the charity stripe.
• The Hoyas owned the glass, outrebounding Saint Peter's 43-31.

 
PEACOCK HIGHLIGHTS

• Bryce Eaton led all scorers with 23 points on 50.0% (7-14) shooting from the field. Brent Bland followed with 13 points of his own on 4-for-12 shooting.
• A quartet of Peacocks recorded four rebounds with Lucas Scroggins, TJ Robinson, Bol Agu and Eaton.
• Eaton paced the Peacock offense with a team-high three assists while Bland and Elijah Perkins each recorded a pair.
• Jahki Gupton recorded a game-high four steals.
• Saint Peter's shot 36.8% (21-57) from the field and was 65.5% (19-29) from the free throw line.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Georgetown opened on an 8-2 run sparked by an Isaiah Abraham 3-pointer and featuring a C. Williams triple to go along with a pair of Lewis free throws. An SPU bucket ended the run but GU pushed the lead to eight (12-4) on a Lewis alleyoop dunk off the Mack dish.
• Trading buckets, another C. Williams 3-pointer followed by a Halaifonua dunk gave the Blue & Gray five quick points and pushed the advantage to 12 (20-8). The Peacocks would not go away as they started to chip away at the lead, reeling off seven in a row.
• Another Halaifonua dunk ended the Saint Peter's run but the Peacocks hung around, trying to keep it a two-possession game despite GU's best efforts. A pair of Halaifonua free throws pushed the lead back to nine but SPU added a pair on their own with the squads heading to the locker room with Georgetown up 31-24 at the break.
• Despite a Peacock bucket to open the second half, the Hoyas went ahead by double digits when a pair of Halaifonua hookshots sandwiched a C. Williams bucket. for the 37-26 lead.
• The Peacocks strung together another run to cut the deficit to as few as four (39-35) but six unanswered fueled by four from Halaifonua and capped by a Jayden Fort layup GU's lead back to 10 (45-35).
• Georgetown built the lead to as many as 12 (52-40) down the stretch but the Peacocks would not go away, cutting the gap to four (56-52, 2:47) on a 3-pointer. A Halaifonua offensive board and jumper ended the SPU run and gave the Hoyas some breathing room. However, continued trips to the line for the Peacocks forced an extra five minutes of basketball as the teams were tied at 60 at the end of regulation.
• An Abraham dunk started the scoring in the extra frame with a Halaifonua bucket pushing the lead to four. J. Williams piled on with a traditional three-point play on the driving layup, drawing the foul and draining his free throw as the Hoyas led 67-60.
• Free throws provided the points as the overtime period went on but the Hoyas would hold onto the lead and take a 76-68 victory.

 
OF NOTE

• Halaifonua's career-high 22 points were fueled by a career-best nine made field goals.
• Georgetown is now 1-1 in overtime games this season.

 
UP NEXT
Georgetown will return to action on Wednesday, December 17 when the squad travels to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the Marquette University Golden Eagles at Fiserv Forum. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1 with Connor Onion and Jeff Levering calling the game. The game can be heard locally on Team 980 as well as on the SiriusXM app with Rich Chvotkin, in his 52nd season as the Voice of the Hoyas, calling the action.