Georgetown escapes in defeat of Providence

Georgetown was a winner in a very spirited affair against Providence on Saturday.

The Hoyas won 73-72 over the Friars, snapping a five-game losing streak they’d sputtered through over the last month. The Friars’ loss, meanwhile, was their second in the last three, and fifth in their last seven contests.

Saturday’s contest started quite alright for the Friars. They jumped out to a 9-0 lead and were up by as many as 15 points in the first half. A.J. Reeves went berserk, going for 22 points and needed just 12 shots to get there. He made four 3-pointers in the first half, accounting for exactly half of his eight buckets made in the first half. No other Friar was in double figures, so to say they were riding the coattails of Reeves is an understatement.

But things began to unravel towards the end of the first half. While Providence dominated, Georgetown made something of it towards the end. The Hoyas went on a 24-13 run over the final 9:16 of the half to cut the deficit to just four points. They would then rip the lead away from PC out of the gate with a 5-0 run in the first minute and a half or so. The teams exchanged blows for the entirety o the half, with neither side going up by more than five.

With 4:49 to go though, Donald Carey would step up and hit a 3-pointer to tie the game. 40+ seconds later, Carey would hit a layup to propel Georgetown into the lead. A Qudus Wahab free throw later, and the Hoyas were up three. A few minutes later, they went right back up by three, and with five seconds to play were up two.

David Duke would then be fouled with a second to play. Duke hit the first of two free throws, but misfired on the second, handing the result to the Hoyas.

The aforementioned Reeves would finish with a game-high 28 points in the loss. He was joined in double figures by Nate Watson (12) and Alyn Breed (10). On the Hoyas’ side, Chudier Bile scored a team-best 19 points, and was joined in double figures by Jamorko Pickett (12) and Donald Carey (10).