Of all the things said by Coach Craig Esherick in his nine minute press conference following the Georgetown’s stirring last second victory over St. John’s on Tuesday night, perhaps the most important was, “Guys made plays.” A comment conspicuously absent from the past two Hoyas squads, the claim was echoed by what Esherick called, ” the best performance of his career,” from senior forward Courtland Freeman. After a dominating performance in which he had recorded 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, Freeman capped his night with a final catch and dunk with 0.5 seconds left in the game. The victory broke the team’s three-game losing streak, a seven-game losing streak to St. John’s, and gave the team a key conference victory headed into their second showdown against a top ranked team in 10 days.
Freeman was the latest Hoya to throw his hat in the ring of players who have led the team in games. While four Hoyas scored in double figures, Freeman was the team leader in points and rebounds and their second highest assist recorder. He also keyed the team’s improved shooting in the second half, where Freeman’s passing and post presence created more open looks on mid-range jumpers and cuts from wing players. With a number of key rebounds and assists, Freeman was a key to frustrating St. John’s in Georgetown’s 3-2 zone and breaking down a similar zone defense applied by the Red Storm throughout much of the game.
” We kept shooting and the shots started to fall [in the second half].”
” I can’t say enough about Courtland,” Esherick said. ” He’s the major reason we won that game.”
While both team’s entered with a reputation as trapping, fast-breaking squads, their first half shooting and execution on the breaks belied their chosen style of play. The half was marked by consistently missed open looks, botched layups, and massive turnovers leading to dismal shooting percentages for both Georgetown (35.5%) and St. John’s (33.3%). While the Red Storm established a clear advantage on the inside, particularly the offensive glass, with their wealth of size down low, the Hoyas were able to stay in the game with Freeman’s seven points in the first 10 minutes and overcame a number of failed fast breaks.
In the second half, sophomore Brandon Bowman overcame a slow start en route to 14 points in the game. The forward also created more havoc toward the basket with more aggressive drives and tenacious defense around the boards. Sophomore point guard Ashanti Cook also shook himself out of a first half slump to finish with a game high eight assists, and while his shooting touch never came through, he was able to capitalize on Red Storm turnovers and missed shots to create opportunities for his teammates.
Junior guard Darrel Owens also sparked the team at a number of points in the second half, fearlessly driving to the hoop, hitting a key three pointer as the shot clock expired, and risking his body while being intentionally fouled with 8:27 left in the game. After leaving briefly for medical treatment for a newly sore shoulder, Owens returned with 6:05 left in the half and hit two of the biggest shots down the stretch. With 2:17 to go, the swingman made an aggressive cut to the hoop and dropped in a layup to give the Hoyas a three point lead and then again gave the team the lead with 51.9 seconds left off another key drive.
” A lot of teams have been not giving me that three point look lately,” Owens said. ” Coach told me to use that to my advantage to cut to the basket.”
The win marked the end of a long stretch of futility at the hands of the Johnnies, who had won the past seven matches between Georgetown and St. John’s. While breaking that three year streak was definitely a relief for Esherick and the team, getting another conference win and breaking out of the team’s three-game losing streak were clearly bigger monkeys shook off by the win.
“We had been in a little bit of a rut, and we needed to win this game,” Esherick said. “We definitely need to win this game, and I think guys made plays.”
Georgetown now looks ahead to their second match up against a number one ranked team in the past 10 days. Duke will enter Saturday’s 2 p.m. MCI Center matchup with the Hoyas as the nation’s top team, riding an undefeated conference record and a number of victories over other top-25 teams. The game has spurred a mass of campus and local interest and is projected to be the first MCI Center sell-out for a Georgetown regular season basketball game since the team began playing their home games there in 1997. The hype from the regionally televised game has clearly begun to wear off on the Hoyas, who were palpably excited after the game on Tuesday.
“I think it’ll definitely be packed, people have been asking for tickets, and I know they’ve sold a lot of tickets on campus,” Freeman said. ” There’s a lot of hype with the game. It would feel great just to get a lot of people here, for us, so hopefully we’ll have a lot of Georgetown fans here screaming and cheering us on.”
