Hoyas Storm to Title

Georgetown’s men’s basketball team left for the Hawaii Pacific University Thanksgiving Basketball Classic with the new season in question after a narrow 85-75 win over Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 17 and the first-semester loss of senior bigman Lee Scruggs due to academic ineligibility.

The Hoyas erased all doubts, taking the tournament title and returning to the Hilltop with a 4-0 record. Georgetown rolled over its opponents with an aggressive offensive effort, defeating Central Florida, the College of Charleston and Minnesota on the way to the championship.

Junior guard Kevin Braswell took home tournament MVP honors, averaging 13.7 points, 4.3 assists and two steals a game. Freshman forwards Mike Sweetney and Gerald Riley were both selected to the all-tournament team.

Throughout the tournament, Braswell led a potent Hoya offense. Georgetown shot over 45 percent in all three games, including 49 percent against Charleston. Against the Cougars, five Hoyas each scored in double digits and Sweetney led the team with 19 points.

In the three tournament games, newcomers Sweetney and Riley dispelled any doubts about their abilities. Both scored in double digits in all three games and helped solidify the Hoyas’ front court intensity. Sweetney averaged 15 points and 6.7 rebounds for the tournament, scoring 19 in two contests, while Riley notched a 14-point, 4.7-rebound average.

The Hawaii tournament marked the first time Georgetown has squared off against Minnesota since 1993, when the Gophers beat the Hoyas 62-61 in the National Invitation Tournament Championship at adison Square Garden.

Georgetown’s 76-60 championship victory over Minnesota on Nov. 26 was solid on both sides of the court, with the Hoyas shooting 45.3 percent while holding the Gophers to just 28 percent. Georgetown also took control of the boards, grabbing 44 rebounds to innesota’s 35.

The Hoyas came out strong in the first half, taking a 41-22 lead going into the break. Georgetown’s defense limited innesota’s outside shooting and kept the Gophers from scoring in the final 10 minutes of the half.

The second half saw continued Hoya domination culminating in a dunk by sophomore guard Demetrius Hunter with 13:53 remaining to extend the lead to 52-28. The Gophers were not ready to give in yet, however, going on a 28-13 run to cut the Hoyas’ lead to nine.

But the final blow came when their leading scorer, Mike Bauer, fouled out with 3:40 remaining. Georgetown kept the offense strong in the remaining minutes and took the game 76-60.

Braswell led the team’s efforts against Minnesota, going 7-15, topping all scorers with 18 points and posting five assists and three rebounds. Hunter gave a 15-point performance, including three three-pointers, while Riley scored 14 for the Hoyas.

The Nov. 24 Georgetown-Charleston contest in the second round of the tournament was the Hoyas’ most challenging game of the weekend. Tied for the first three minutes, the Hoyas fell behind and trailed the Cougars for most of the first half. Georgetown entered the break with a slight 33-32 advantage.

The second half started off no better than the first as the Hoyas fell behind, trailing by as many as nine points. By the 10-minute mark, however, the tides started to turn in favor of the Hoyas. Georgetown’s defense held Charleston scoreless for more than nine minutes while the Hoyas went on an offensive run before winning 79-68.

Despite the struggles, the Hoya offense was never more potent than in Georgetown’s win over Charleston. Led by Sweetney’s 19 points, five Hoya players posted double-digit point totals. Braswell notched 16, Riley had 14, sophomore forward Wesley Wilson contributed 12 and Hunter posted 10 points in the victory.

The first round of the tournament on Nov. 24 pit Georgetown against Central Florida. Just a minute and a half into the game, the Hoyas took the lead against the Golden Knights and never gave up.

Despite a wide margin in first-half shooting percentages – the Hoyas shot 41.2 percent compared with the Knights’ 22.9 percent – Georgetown led by a slim 31-26 margin at the end of the first half.

The Knights improved in the second half, scoring 39 points and shooting 45 percent, but it still wasn’t enough to combat the Hoya offense. Georgetown shot 53 percent from the floor in the second half and nabbed the victory by a 77-65 margin.

Sweetney and Riley contributed solid efforts for the Hoyas, posting 19 and 14 points respectively. Sweetney boasted nine rebounds for Georgetown while senior center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje and Hunter each posted six. Braswell struggled on the day, going just two for 13 from the floor.

The Hoyas look to keep their win streak going and will play host to Nicholls State at 2 p.m. tomorrow in McDonough Gymnasium.