Two years ago, on Jan. 21, 2006, the Hoyas walked into Verizon Center the underdogs, barely expected to last a half against the unbeaten, top-ranked Duke Blue Devils. In a stunning upset, Georgetown toppled perfection and rocked the arena. onday night, the tables were turned. Now, Georgetown was the team to beat and long-time rival Syracuse was the unranked visitor hungry to knock off the top dog. Yet once again, the Hoyas gave the crowd a show, coming out victorious in a 64-62 overtime battle that brought Verizon Center to its feet, just as they had two years previously. “We know and expect to win close games,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. “When we get in tight situations, I don’t think we tense up too much. I think that’s when we focus and execute. . We depend, believe in each other.” Syracuse (13-7, 3-4), a long-time rival since Thompson’s father sat on the bench, has given Georgetown (15-2, 5-1) trouble in the past few years, ending an 11-game Hoyas winning streak last season at the Carrier Dome, and upset Georgetown in the semifinals 2006 Big East Tournament. On this night, Georgetown extended its lead to as many as 11 points in the first half, but Syracuse came roaring back in the second half thanks to some marksmanship from its highly-touted freshmen, Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn. Each connected on a pair of second half long balls. With just 2:02 remaining in regulation, the Hoyas found themselves trailing 60-55. Junior guard Jessie Sapp, who posted 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists on the night, drilled a three-pointer with 1:51 left, and then after a steal by freshman Austin Freeman on the other end, connected on a layup to tie the game at 60 apiece with 74 seconds left. “Jessie Sapp made some big plays, as he has for at least two years now, maybe three,” Thompson said. “He has the intestinal fortitude to make the big play.” uch of overtime was anticlimactic, with the two teams combining for just one made field goal – a midrange jumper by Roy Hibbert with a minute remaining to put the Hoyas on top 64-60 – but the final minute was not wanting of dramatics. First, sophomore forward DaJuan Summers fouled fellow-Baltimore native Greene on a three-point try with 44 ticks left on the clock. Greene converted on his first and third free throws. Next, in what may have been an attempt to redeem himself, Summers tossed up a three-pointer of his own, one that would have surely been the final dagger, with 16 seconds left. It missed. Syracuse inbounded, crossed half court, and called its last timeout, setting up one final possession with 10.8 seconds left. With Flynn, who finished with 24 points on 23 shots in 45 minutes, the obvious choice to take the final shot, Georgetown turned to sophomore guard and defensive stopper Jeremiah Rivers to blanket Flynn, something he had done with aplomb for much of the game’s final 10 minutes. “I was really just trying to stay in front of [Flynn],” Rivers said of the final moments. “Make the shot as difficult as it could be.” Flynn’s last-second three-point attempt rattled out, and Georgetown came away with another Big East victory. “I think Jeremiah and Patrick [Ewing Jr.]’s defense was unbelievable. I think those two guys just made a huge difference tonight,” Thompson said of the second-string duo. “Spark would be an understatement.” Always the modest teammates, Ewing and Rivers didn’t take the credit but were just happy for the win. “I felt I played alright D; it could’ve been better,” Ewing said, while Rivers deferred to his teammates. “I think it really starts in practice. Guarding Sapp and Jon and Tyler and Freeman and Chris, that ain’t a picnic. It helps set me up for the game,” Rivers said. With four minutes remaining in the first half, the Hoyas’ efficiency began to wear the Orange down, and Georgetown began to pull away on back-to-back-to-back three pointers, the first made by senior captain Tyler Crawford, followed by two in a row by senior guard Jonathan Wallace. The Hoyas went into halftime with a 36-29 lead. Syracuse refused to be put away in the second half, however, and in the end, it was not the Hoyas’ offensive efforts (which was sub-par for the team, shooting only 43.4 percent on the day, down from their average 50.8 percent on the season), but rather their defense that won them the game. Syracuse roared back into the game in the second stanza, taking the lead about halfway into the period on a layup by Greene. Summers silenced the Syracuse contingent with a slam dunk that brought the home crowd to its feet at the midway point of the half, but the Orange got hot from behind the arc and took a seven point lead at the 4:34 mark. But as Georgetown has done so many times over the last year and a half, it refused to be counted out. Wallace’s 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc led him to 15 points, and he tacked on four assists. Summers, who seemed to be everywhere on the court, was nowhere on the stat sheet, totaling five points and two rebounds to follow his double-double in the previous game against Notre Dame on Saturday. Once again, the Hoyas had trouble on the boards. The Orange outrebounded Georgetown 43-33, including a 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass. In the end, the matchup yielded more for the Hoyas than an extra tally in the win column, Thompson said after the game. “It’s important to play against Syracuse because of that [2-3] zone,” he said. “[You] have to find other ways to get baskets.” The Hoyas next face West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday evening.