In its last exhibition game before the start of the regular season, the Georgetown men’s basketball team dominated the Latvian Select team, 87-72, showcasing promising offensive capabilities despite some defensive lapses.
Junior point guard Kevin Braswell had 16 points, and senior center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje added a double-double – contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Head Coach Craig Esherick made no changes to the starting lineup from the first game, going with Braswell, sophomore shooting guard Demetrius Hunter, freshman small forward Gerald Riley, freshman power forward Mike Sweetney and Boumtje-Boumtje.
The Hoyas steadily built a lead in the first half and had a burst of momentum eight and a half minutes into the period. Sophomore center Wesley Wilson threw down a crowd-rousing dunk, and on the Latvians’ ensuing possession, Braswell rebounded the ball and ran a fast break with Hunter, which ended in Hunter being fouled on a layup. Hunter sank the free throw to make the score 16-6.
The Hoyas used the energy to go on a 13-2 run, which included a dunk by Boumtje-Boumtje, before the Latvians took a timeout with four minutes and 30 seconds left in the period. The score at halftime was 46-22.
The Hoyas suffered a major defensive lapse when they took the court after halftime. They settled into their lead and failed to play tight defense around the perimeter. The Latvians took advantage, making two three-pointers in the first minute. The Hoyas were sloppy defensively and missed several layups, giving the Latvians the opportunity to rally. Eight minutes into the second half, Latvian center Will Carlton converted a three-pointer followed by a jump shot to cut the Hoyas’ lead to seven.
“At the beginning of the second half, when we had the lead, I thought we came out defensively and really relaxed,” Esherick said. “I was definitely not happy with the group we had in the game at the time. I thought we gave them way too many open shots at that point. They got their confidence.”
However, the Hoyas recovered defensively, building the lead back up to 24 points with five minutes remaining and giving the crowd another glimpse of their offensive potential. It began with Wilson again providing momentum with a dunk. Braswell then stole the ball and pushed it ahead to senior Anthony Perry for a layup. The Latvians missed a jumper, and Wilson rebounded and passed to Braswell, who finished the fast break with a layup. The Latvians called a timeout after the score.
Esherick pointed to the team’s offensive potential in the low post as something to look forward to.
“[The Boumtje-Boumtje-Sweetney combination] is great,” Esherick said. “I don’t think we’ve used that well yet. We can cause problems just getting the ball in the hands of one of the two. But we’re not there yet in terms of really taking advantage of it.”
Sweetney had another strong performance, contributing 12 points and five rebounds. In his debut against Army-Fort Hood, Sweetney scored 19 and pulled down 15 boards.
“Mike has a lot of patience. He’s not in a hurry to get the ball out of his hands,” Esherick said. “He has good judgement, and he has great hands. He is a very good basketball player.”
The Hoyas are still looking for contributions from guards other than Braswell. After the junior guard’s 16 points, the eight points by Hunter were the next biggest offensive performance by a Georgetown guard.
“I think all of our guards have to get better,” Esherick said. “I think we have to get better in terms of not having 20 turnovers, I think we have to get better in terms of getting the ball inside.
“The team needs to improve its turnover ratio and gain consistency on defense and come together defensively, but considering they have played two exhibition games as a team, they look to be in good shape to begin the season on Friday against Bethune-Cookman,” Esherick said.
“Based on the fact that we haven’t even played a regular season game yet, I think that the guys seem to be picking some things up,” Esherick said. “We’ve thrown a lot at them and I’ve been impressed with how well they’ve picked it up. I want everybody focused on winning, and I want to try to get better every single game.
The Hoyas take on Bethune-Cookman in the regular season opener Friday at 8 p.m. at McDonough Gymnasium.
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