Given a chance to separate itself from the middle of the pack in the Big East conference, the men’s basketball team lost to St. John’s, 73-70, last night at Madison Square Garden. The Red storm have beaten the Hoyas five straight times and Georgetown Head Coach Craig Esherick has never defeated the Red Storm.
Junior point guard Kevin Braswell missed an open three pointer from the left wing in front of the Georgetown bench in the final five seconds. The three would have tied the game and capped a slow Georgetown comeback in the second half. Ultimately, 21 turnovers?not Braswell’s shot?killed Georgetown’s chances.
The loss drops the Hoyas into a third-place tie with West Virginia in the Big East Conference’s West Division. The Hoyas are now 4-6 since opening the season 16-0 and have a 7-6 record in the conference.
Georgetown opened the game very slowly. St. John’s scored the game’s first seven points, hitting three of its first four shots. Georgetown missed its first four shots as its front line misfired.
At the first official timeout, Head Coach Craig Esherick went to his usual substitution of senior guard Anthony Perry and senior swingman Nat Burton in place of first-year small forward Gerald Riley and sophomore shooting guard Demetrius Hunter. Hunter returned later in the half the hit a pair of three pointers, but Riley did not break out of his recent slump.
Georgetown took a lead at 13-12, but it lasted only 18 seconds. The Red Storm lead for the rest of the game.
Senior center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje kept the Hoyas in the game with a few nice five to 15 foot jump shots and excellent free-throw shooting.
The Hoyas lacked rhythm on offense, but Boumtje-Boumtje and a combined 5 of 6 three-point-shooting performance from Hunter, Perry and junior point guard Kevin Braswell kept the score close.
The problem for Georgetown was defense as the Hoyas surrendered 46 points. The Red Storm used nine offensive rebounds to get 11 second-chance points. St. John’s young point guard Omar Cook shredded the Hoya defense for 7 assists. A late three by Braswell cut the margin to six at 46-40 heading to the locker room.
The Georgetown starters opened the second half with more uninspired play as the Red Storm went on a quick 5-0 run to make the score 51-40 with about 18:00 left in the game.
Georgetown immediately went on a 5-0 run of its own: Sweetney used a good ball fake to score a short shot and get to the line for a free-throw. On the next possession, Hunter stole the ball near half court, triggering a fast break with Braswell. Braswell and Hunter passed the ball back and forth, and Braswell cashed in with a right-handed layup.
From there, the game went back and forth as St. John’s rebuilt its lead and Georgetown got back in the game several times. Georgetown’s defense was significantly better as the Hoyas forced the Red storm into three shot-clock violations in the second half. Boumtje-Boumtje played his best game of the season, posting a double-double and making a major impact on defense in the second half.
For the second straight game, Esherick tightened his bench in the second half?all but benching Riley and relying mainly on seven players. After Braswell picked up his fourth foul, Esherick used offense-defense substitutions with Braswell and Sweetney on offense and sophomore forward Samnick and Burton on defense. Boumtje-Boumtje, Hunter and Perry played on both sides.
Georgetown made a real push when it got Sweetney into the offense. A free-throw by Sweetney cut the lead to two at 65-63, but Georgetown turned the ball over on its next five possessions and St. John’s managed three points, pushing the lead to 68-63. In order, the turnovers were committed by Perry, Hunter, Burton, Braswell and Hunter. Both of Hunter’s turnovers were travels and Burton was called for a travel after he hustled for a loose ball and stood up form a kneeling position.
From there, the Hoyas made a final push. A block by Sweetney followed by an offensive rebound by Boumtje-Boumtje on the other end cut the lead to 68-65. The play gave Boumtje-Boumtje his final numbers, 16 points and 11 rebounds.
St. John’s answer with a devastating three, but Perry immediately drained a three of his own from the right corner of the court to make the score 71-68 with 1:16 to go.
Esherick then used his final timeout to set his defense. Braswell then got a steal near half court and raced ahead of the Red Storm defense for a layup with just under a minute to go. The score gave Braswell 19 points for the game.
The Hoyas then forced a miss, but the Red Storm picked an offensive rebound off the ground and called timeout with 37 seconds left. Georgetown fouled Cook who hit two free throws on the one-and-one bonus.
Georgetown then failed to get a quick shot as Braswell tried to use high picks by Boumtje-Boumtje, but the Red Storm just trapped Braswell. Eventually Hunter tried to get a shot from the left side, but it was blocked out of bounds and Georgetown had 8.9 more seconds to get a shot.
Braswell then used another screen and found himself open when his defender fell down. His high arching shot hit the inside of the rim, but bounced high off the rim. After a scramble, the Hoyas could not get the rebound for another shot.
