On Nov. 6, Georgetown men’s basketball (1-0, BIG EAST) won in hard-fought fashion against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-2, Patriot League), 85-77, in front of a small but mightily packed crowd at McDonough Arena.
After waiting all offseason to play some real basketball, save a couple of closed-door scrimmages, fans had high energy levels for the Hoyas from the opening tip. Lehigh, on the other hand, has already played a game this season, a blowout 90-46 road loss against a Northwestern Wildcats team without its best player, guard Brooks Barnhizer. One might’ve thought that the Mountain Hawks may have been hard-pressed to keep this one competitive given those two factors, let alone the fact that Georgetown possessed a significant size advantage over their opponent, with an average starter height of nearly 3” per player taller than the road team. Clearly, though, someone forgot to give Lehigh the memo, as the Mountain Hawks took the game to the Hoyas early.
All eyes coming into this game probably would have been on sophomore point guard Malik Mack, who is on my Cousy Award watch-list, and Lehigh’s First Team All-Patriot returner senior Tyler Whitney-Sidney, but it was another pair of guards, DMV native Lehigh sophomore Cam Gillus and Lehigh senior Keith Higgins Jr. who stole the show early. The pair sliced and diced their way through the Georgetown defense, seemingly getting whatever shots they wanted.
By the under-12 media timeout, Gillus and Higgins had combined for 21 of the Mountain Hawks’ 24 and Lehigh had taken an early 24-21 lead on the home team.
The teams continued to battle back and forth through the under-8, with the score 31-29 Lehigh. After the Hoyas took an early 8-3 lead on the boards (including four offensive rebounds to Lehigh’s one defensive rebound), Georgetown’s advantage on the glass began to narrow. One big change for the Hoyas in the positive direction, though, was Cooley putting sophomore guard Curtis Williams as the primary defender on Gillus, slowing, but not stopping all together, the Mountain Hawks’ offensive onslaught.
As the half entered its latter stages, both teams started to settle in defensively, and scoring slowed. Both clubs continued trading buckets, with the offensively balanced Hoyas getting seven in the scoring column in the first half. Lehigh led 39-34 over the Hoyas by the under-4 timeout.
Photo by Daniel Rankin
Another important note, senior guard Micah Peavy did not leave a tournament team at TCU a year ago to come to the Hilltop just to lose to a mid-major on opening night.
Peavy was far-and-away the Hoyas’ most impressive player in the first half and completely took over late in that period. Whether it was transition drives, post-ups, or pull-ups, Peavy seemingly could not miss, finishing 7-8 from the floor with 18 points, two rebounds, two assists, and three(!) steals. Joining Williams and Peavy in settling down Georgetown’s leaky defense was sophomore forward Jordan Burks, who chipped in with strong on-ball defense and a crucial block in the closing seconds of the half to protect Georgetown’s slim lead, sending the Hoyas into the half up 44-39, a 10-0 Georgetown run in the final four minutes.
Gillus and Higgins Jr. were held to just five combined points in the final 12 minutes of the half following the Hoya’s defensive adjustments. Georgetown’s star backcourt was held similarly in check, with Mack and returning leading scorer junior Jayden Epps held to 10 first-half points.
Remember that raucous crowd I mentioned earlier? They were feeling Georgetown’s momentum, too. During a critical Georgetown run late in the half, the students in McDonough made sure their presence was felt. After a great defensive sequence led to a Lehigh shot clock violation with only 1:13 left and Georgetown up 40-39, the crowd erupted as if it had been waiting all game for the Hoyas to show some more defensive fight.
The Hoyas’ momentum didn’t end at the half. Instead, they came out of halftime with a new look in their eyes. Lehigh blood was in the water and the players and the Hoya crowd could clearly sense it.
In a game full of strong individual moments as a part of the collective group turnaround, it was now freshman forward Thomas Sorber’s turn to make his mark. After getting knocked down to the floor early in the half on a questionable no-call, Sorber responded well, with two strong interior post-buckets on back-to-back possessions to extend the Hoya lead to 50-42. Gillus and Higgins Jr. responded, though, with five early points to keep the Mountain Hawks roosted close. At the under-16 the lead was down to 50-46 Georgetown.
As much as the Hoyas seemed to be playing with a renewed sense of purpose, Lehigh was not ready to go away. A Lehigh run out of the timeout, once again led by their guards, got them into the lead 54-53, but now it was Epps’ turn with two threes, the latter of which brought the Hoyas back in front 56-54. As the game tightened, it also got chippy, with Sorber refusing to be moved in the post, and on the second Epps three, even discarding his man to the floor when he challenged Sorber for the position. Another time, Sorber dove for another loose ball on the offensive end, leading to a Lehigh foul. Don’t let the colorful braces fool you, Thomas Sorber is a bad man, and he showed why in his first game as a Hoya. At the under-12 timeout, the score still stood 56-54 Georgetown.
After the timeout, an Epps drive and a Sorber and-one post bucket off a Mack feed, countered by a Higgins Jr. pullup, pushed the Hoya lead back out to five at 61-56. Much like Peavy asserted himself in the first, Sorber quickly became the story of the half for the Hoyas in the second. Every time down the floor, Sorber battled for position in an effort to get a feed and a bucket. With just over nine minutes left in the game, Sorber had poured in 8 second-half points, four rebounds, and a number of hustle plays that won’t appear in the stat sheet. The Hoyas maintained their five-point advantage to the under-8 at 68-63.
While Cooley ran a deeper rotation for much of the first stanza, with the game in the balance, he trusted his starters, minus Fielder and plus Burks, to get the job done.
And get the job done they did.
Photo by Daniel Rankin
One possession was Mack, another was Sorber, another was Epps, and so on. Even though the Hoya stat sheet may not have been stuffed with assists, the Hoyas shared the scoring burden. With just under five minutes left, Curtis Williams would return to the floor to stymie the Lehigh guards, just as he had in the first. After a block by Sorber on one end and a strong take ending in a foul for Sorber on the other, the energy from the Hoyas and from their fans reached a climax. The Georgetown lead stood at 75-68 with just four minutes remaining in the game. In the half, it was 12 points for Sorber and 13 for the Lehigh duo combined. It wasn’t just scoring for Sorber either, as he also had six rebounds in the period as well.
The Hoyas were off and running, and a Mack floater brought the Hoya lead to double digits for the first time all game. On the next possession, Burks finally got on the board with a putback layup, making the score 81-68 Georgetown with just 1:23 remaining for the visiting Mountain Hawks of Lehigh to stage a comeback. Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen. After 83 more seconds of struggle, the Hoyas emerged victors by a score of 85-77.
The story of the game? Thomas Sorber. Watching the Hoya big, you would never have guessed it was his first game at the college level. He imposed himself on every possession on both ends in a way nobody else did on the night. This Georgetown team has a long… long way to go from tonight, but if Sorber can bring this intensity to every game, it will go a long way with his sheer talent. Sober finished the night with 20 points (tied for the team-high with Peavy), 13 rebounds (game-high), and a high box plus-minus of 13 (tied with Peavy).
Higgins Jr. finished with 22 points for the Mountain Hawks and Gillus with 21.
The Hoyas will stay home, this time at Capital One, on Saturday, Nov. 9, when they take on the Fairfield Stags (0-1, MAAC) at 4:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on FS2. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on X.
Tweet of the game: https://x.com/HoyaApologist/status/1854319543335707063
