No.9 Georgetown puts squeeze on Orange in overtime
Anything less than a thriller between Georgetown and Syracuse just wouldn’t be Big East basketball, and on Big Monday folks in the Verizon Center and all across the country weren’t disappointed.
Down seven points with five minutes remaining, No.9 Georgetown rallied to force overtime and avoided the upset at the hands of Syracuse, coming away with a 64-62 win. The familiar names led the way for the Hoyas (15-2, 5-1), in the form of Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace. Hibbert had 15 points and nine rebounds, including the only made field goal in the overtime session, while Wallace added 15 also.
But on this night, the hero was backup point guard Jeremiah Rivers for the Hoyas. Rivers played fantastic defense on Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn, who attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have given the Orange the victory. Flynn was a man on a mission, playing the entire 45 minutes, while leading Syracuse with 24 points. His last desperation 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer, clinching the win for Georgetown.
Donte Greene chipped in with 15 points, despite going 1-of-13 from the field at one point in the game. Greene finished the night 5-of-19; Arinze Onuaku added 12 points and 13 rebounds. Aside from Flynn, Syracuse’s backcourt struggled, with Paul Harris and Scoop Jardine combining for just seven points, despite playing a combined 82 minutes.
Greene shook off a bad night shooting down the stretch, draining a 3-pointer to put Syracuse up 60-55 with two minutes remaining. But Hoya guard Jessie Sapp scored five of his 11 points in the final two minutes, connecting on a long 3-pointer and a layup to pull the contest even at 60 with 74 seconds left in the game.
The overtime frame saw only six points between the two teams and only one basket from the field on a jumper from Hibbert. The first three minutes of overtime were scoreless from the field, and the only points for either team came from Sapp, by way of the free throw line. Syracuse just flat out ran out of gas in overtime, going 0-for-6 from the field and making just 2-of-7 free throw attempts. Onuaku went to the line twice, but missed all four of his attempts. Hibbert’s jumper put Georgetown up 64-60 with a minute remaining in overtime.
It was the fourth time in almost 10 days Syracuse was in action. The Orange did everything they could to pull off the upset; they outrebounded the Hoyas by 10 and held the Hoyas to just 35 percent shooting in the game. Still for the Orange, they shot just 36.5 percent and have lost four of their last five. A little over a year ago, Syracuse defeated Georgetown 72-58 to end the Hoyas’ 11-game win streak. The Orange have had Georgetown’s number of late, winning seven of the last eight games.
It was impressive the way Georgetown never panicked or tightened up down the stretch, trailing by five with two minutes to go. Sapp stepped up huge by pulling Georgetown even and Rivers stifled Syracuse’s main offensive threat (Flynn) in the second half and in overtime. The victory puts Georgetown in sole possession of first place in the Big East standings at 5-1, and they run their home record to a perfect 10-0 so far in 2007-08 season.
No.9 Georgetown will face off against West Virginia on Saturday, while Syracuse will look to regroup Sunday against Providence.
Tags: Big East Basketball, Georgetown Hoyas, NCAA Men's basketball, Syracuse Orange