November 6, 2019 -Down 37-25 at intermission, 19 with about 17 and a half minutes remaining in the second half of each team’s season opening tilt, Georgetown’s hopes against visiting Mt. St. Mary’s looked shaky. The Hoyas, which shot 30% overall, 1-10 on three pointers during the first 20 minutes seemed to be sinking, captaining a ship taking on water.

Enter James Akinjo with a life preserver and pump, as he singlehandedly sparked a 6-0 Blue and Grey run, driving G’Town to their 81-68 victory before 5,214 Capital One Arena attending fans.

“We know how talented we are as a team. So we are not ones to get down on ourselves” shared Akinjo of his team’s halftime mindset. “We were all picking each other up. We knew we had to pick it up on the defensive end”.

That they did, scoring 12 points off 11 second half Mountaineer turnovers. MSM’s 11 giveaways in that period were also killer in Georgetown’s 56-31 scoring advantage, then. Further highlighting G’Town’s back stanza defensive prowess were prodigious actual shooting numbers for the visitors; MSM logged 52.2% in the second half from the field, 37.9% on three balls. For the game, head coach Dan Engelstad’s squad managed 46.3% and 38.1%, respectively.

Englestad lauded G’Town’s pressure, indicating "Their press really changed the game in the second half. Sped us up a little bit”.

His Hoya counterpart, Pat Ewing noted of the turnaround “We woke up…We used our press in the second half. I thought that helped get us going”. Conversely he labeled the team’s first 20 minute work stopping foes “non-existent”.

Truer words were not spoken; The Hoyas 65.5% field goal, 63.6% long ball, second period marks helped lift them to 47.5% on all shots, 38.1% beyond the arc, for the contest.

A trio of Hoyas scored in double figures – Akinjo, and senior center Omer Yurtseven each dropped a game high 20 points, sophomore guard Mac McClung finished at 16 points. Sophomore point guard Akinjo also tied for tilt best marks in assists with five. Yurtseven’s 12 rebounds were a game best, contributing to his team’s 40-26 carom advantage.

Junior guard Jalen Gibbs led The Mount via 19 points. Sophomore guard Vado Morse followed closely at 18 points, while sophomore floor general Damian Chong Qui tied Akinjo with a quintet of helpers.

Up next for Mt. St. Mary’s (0-1) is Gettysburg, at home. Tip off’s set for Saturday, 7p.

Georgetown (1-0) also takes the court November 9th, when Central Arkansas piles travels to Capital One Arena for a noon start.

Be sure to visit Premium Court for post-game presser video of both teams.