WASHINGTON, D.C. — The #13 nationally ranked Georgetown University men’s Basketball team (8-1) was slightly concerned about their first game coming back from academic finals taking on cross town rival and 2008 NCAA Tournament team Mount St. Mary’s (3-7) at the Verizon Center.  After Mount St. Mary’s jumped out to a 17-15 advantage to start the game, the Hoyas were energized by a monstrous dunk by freshman Greg Monroe as sophomore Chris Wright scored 19 points and junior DaJuan Summers chipped in 13 as they battled en route to a 69-58 victory over the visiting Mountaineers.   

 

Mount St. Mary’s came into the game as a quality opponent for the Hoyas.  They were an NCAA Tournament team last season, losing to UNC in the 1st round and did not look intimidated at all to be playing in a large arena against a nationally ranked opponent.  Head coach Milan Brown commented, “I was pleased with the effort.  I thought down the stretch we had a couple of lapses that could’ve put us in better position to win, it’s just sometimes frustration when you compete when you can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel…”
 
Although true, one statistic working against The Mounts was their 1-12 all-time record versus nationally ranked teams since joining Division I basketball in 1989.  Second leading scorer Jean Cajou averaging 13.2 points per game out of Fairfax, Virginia scored a season high 21 points last week at Sacred Heart and came into the game as a major target for the Hoya defense.
 
The Mounts sophomore Cajou opened the game with a baseline jumper and the team played up-tempo basketball, attempting to rattle the Hoyas early on.  Austin Freeman, the second leader scoring for the Hoya’s as a sophomore, hit a straight-away three pointer to put Georgetown up 7-6 going into the first official’s timeout.  It should also be noted that Freeman had sole defensive responsibility covering Mount St. Mary’s leading scorer Cajou early in the game, following him all over the court and giving him very little space to operate on offense.
 
Attempting to get him some early, important playing time, Coach John Thompson III substituted Julian Vaughn, the Florida State University transfer and received some valuable rebounding and passing from the center with two boards and two assists for the game.  As the game developed, Cajou hit two consecutive three pointers to give The Mount at 14-11 lead at the 11:24 mark in the first half when again, Coach John Thompson III inserted defensive specialist Omar Wattad into the lineup to slow down The Mount attack.  Even with the energy provided by Wattad, the Hoya’s were unable to gain separation due to their poor field goal shooting in the first half at 36% and uncharacteristic open jump shots for Mount St. Mary’s.
 
Sophomore Omar Wattad hit a corner three pointer to put the Hoya’s ahead 24-22 with 4:44 left causing Coach Brown to take a 30 second timeout.  Omar commented after the game that, “I have confidence in the jump shot.  Sometimes it’s not going to go down but I have confidence in it”.  Even with big-man Greg Monroe on the bench with two early fouls of the remainder of the first half, Georgetown continued to receive important bench production from Vaughn and aggressive playing from Chris Wright taking a 33-24 lead into the half.  The Hoyas struggled from the free throw line in the first half shooting 57% which was surely a point of emphasis for Coach John Thompson III in the locker room.  Georgetown tightened-up defensively late in the half which created the difference between the two teams.  On Georgetown’s intense defense, Brown added, “We prepared for that, but sometimes it’s a lot different having my walk-on play zone and say that he’s [DaJuan] Summers.”
 
The second half began inauspiciously for the Hoya’s with Greg Monroe picking up his third foul with 18:57 left holding a nine point advantage on a questionable foul call.  After a mini-run from the Mountaineers, Austin Freeman hit a turnaround jumper to stretch the Hoya lead back to nine points.  Every time Mount St. Mary’s would make a run, Georgetown would answer back with a few key baskets to stretch the lead back to double digits.  The Mountaineers had one last run left when junior Kelly Beidler hit a three pointer and then converted a steal with a monstrous dunk to cut the Georgetown lead to six points with 4:30 remaining and giving Mount St. Mary’s a look at the upset.  
 
Even with the aggressive play from the Mount St. Mary’s, they couldn’t close the gap on Georgetown as Chris Wright and Austin Freeman continued to hit big three pointers down the stretch and Georgetown turned up the defensive intensity.  Although they struggled throughout the game shooting free throws, Greg Monroe hit a few down the stretch along with Chris Wright to close out the Mountaineers.  Coach John Thompson III commenting on the closeness of the game said, “I can’t say that because every game has the potential to be that close in college basketball.  The way they play they’re competitors; you got to be ready to play”.
 
The real story of the game was the outstanding play of Chris Wright.  He shot six of eleven from the field and converted six free throws along with adding four rebounds.  Coach Brown said, “Chris is a really good player.  We’ve seen Chris play since high school so we knew he was a good player…He’s so strong and he has the speed to go with it makes him a really tough guard.”
 
Georgetown will take on the Florida International University (FIU) Golden Panthers Tuesday night December 23rd at the Verizon Center with a 7:30 pm tip-off while Mount St. Mary’s will travel to Philadelphia to play the La Salle Explorers on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.