New Zealand select visited McDonough Arena last Thursday and performed the country’s traditional Haka dance of intimidation before tipoff. Forty minutes later, Georgetown had beaten the Kiwis, 87-53.
Apparently, it wasn’t that intimidating.
Junior forward Victor Samnick was the story for the Hoyas, finishing the game with 13 points and 15 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. He played just 24 minutes and added three blocks on defense.
“Victor is as good a rebounder as we’ve had at the four spot,” men’s basketball Head Coach Coach Esherick said after the game. “He has gradually moved himself to where he can play on the perimeter, but he’s still a good rebounder.”
While Samnick dominated the often-inept New Zealand squad, who failed to score until the 8:24 mark in the first half, the Hoyas again relied on team play to dominate their opponent. Six Hoyas scored in double figures and the Georgetown big men dominated the middle.
Junior center Wesley Wilson had five blocks, all of them in the first half. Junior forward Courtland Freeman and sophomore forward Michael Sweetney also contributed in the paint, combining for 13 rebounds.
Like their premier against Army-Fort Hood, Georgetown’s pair of first-year guards each finished with significant playing time. In 23 minutes, point guard Drew Hall scored 10 points and had three assists. Tony Bethel had eight points and three assists in 27 minutes.
Coach Esherick continued to express his confidence in the pair of rookies from Montrose Christian in Rockville, Md.
“I’m very comfortable with [Drew and Tony], particularly with the frontline people we have. They’ve played a lot of minutes versus quality teams,” Esherick said. “Plus, we’ve got a senior point guard.”
That guard?Kevin Braswell?only saw 21 minutes. Despite the minimal court time, the captain still notched 11 points and eight assists.
At one point, up 11-0, Braswell raced for a bouncing rebound and jumped up to palm it, then threw a leaping one-handed outlet to a streaking Bethel for the easy lay-in. Soon after, he had another quick outlet, but the ball was lost in transition. Georgetown recovered and found Braswell on the outside for an open three to put them up 27-0.
The Hoyas shot 50 percent from the floor, including 67 percent from three-point range. Hall, Braswell and sophomore forward Gerald Riley were each 2-3 from three.
“We shot extremely well. Give credit to the starters; they played extremely smart and took good shots,” Esherick said.
In addition to Wilson’s five blocks, Georgetown played excellent defense on the night. Bethel showed his usual quickness and tenacity on the perimeter, as did the continually suprising Freeman.
Esherick’s squad forced 24 turnovers, many resulting in easy fast break points.
“We had mobility on defense and offense,” Esherick said. “We don’t have the emphasis on getting the ball inside. I want [the team] to shoot quicker and move the ball quicker because we can.” The team’s first regular season test of that faster, new-look offense will be Friday in McDonough Arena against Marymount at 7:30.
