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Shorthanded Hoyas Hold On for 69-67 Win Over Merrimack
WASHINGTON – Despite being shorthanded in the second half, the Georgetown University men's basketball team held on for the 69-67 win over the visiting Merrimack Warriors at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night. With the win the Hoyas improve to 5-2 on the season while Merrimack slips to 3-5 on the year.
ON THE RECORD "These games are hard. I'm proud of our men as we continue to overcome a bit of adversity. I thought Merrimack's zone gave us a lot of problems. We prepared against it for two days; I thought we'd be a little bit better. I had to have an open and honest conversation with our men in the locker room about preparation, about discipline, about toughness, about attention to detail. I think so many times when you take over a program and people are not accustomed to you as a staff, that's what we were explaining. How important little things are when it comes to preparing to win. The other team has scholarship players, a great coach, and a team that's coming on the road trying to get a big time win. So I'm proud of our group, we have to continue to get a little bit better, and we have to get healthy. We have a lot of guys banged up, so hopefully by Saturday we're a little bit better" - Head Coach Ed Cooley
"My teammates were finding me in the right spots. It feels good when you have the whole coaching staff and teammates that believe in you and are pushing you every day to get better. Credit to them for finding me in the right spots and executing from there." - Senior Wayne Bristol Jr.
HOYA NOTES
Bristol Jr. led the way for the Hoyas with 14 points, shooting 3-of-5 from the field and converting 8-of-11 at the free throw line.Senior Supreme Cook had a double-double, his second of the season, scoring 12 points to go along with as many boards and two steals.Georgetown's leading scorer sophomore Jayden Epps tallied 11 points in the win, going 3-for-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown despite leaving the game with an injury late in the first half.Rowan Brumbaugh's four assists paced the offenseGeorgetown shot 36.0% (18-50) while the Warriors connected on 24-of-55 (43.6%) from the field.The Hoyas won the battle on the glass, pulling down 43 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, while the Warriors managed 28.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Merrimack jumped out to a small lead, the Blue & Gray got hot from beyond the arc as graduate student Ismael Massoud knocked down a triple, and sophomore Jayden Epps added two more to put the Hoyas on top 9-6.A jumper from Epps at the 12:17 mark would spark a 12-0 run as Georgetown built the lead to 11 (21-10).
The Warriors would not go away, however, as they chipped away at the lead as the Hoyas went cold.Free throws kept the Blue & Gray on top, and a pair from the charity stripe by Bristol Jr. with nine seconds remaining would make it 34-27 in favor of Georgetown at the break.
Early in the second half, Merrimack got going and put together a 16-0 run spanning nearly five minutes as the Warriors took the 45-39 lead.A 3-pointer by senior Jay Heath would end the run, but the Blue & Gray had work to do to get back into the game.The run would come at 9:04 when freshman Rowan Brumbaugh knocked down three free throws and Georgetown scored nine unanswered to regain the 54-53 lead.Merrimack would tie it on the next possession with a made free throw, but the Hoyas had an answer for every Warrior bucket as GU clung to a small advantage.In the final minute, free throws and a beautiful layup from Bristol Jr. helped the Hoyas hang on. The final sequence included an intentionally missed free throw and a scramble for a bucket but Merrimack would not find the equalizer as Georgetown took the 69-67 victory.
UP NEXT Georgetown returns to action on Saturday, December 2 when they host TCU at Capital One Arena as part of the BIG EAST - Big 12 Challenge. Tipoff at GU's downtown home is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on FS1 with John Fanta calling the play-by-play and Nick Bahe providing analysis. The radio call of Rich Chvotkin, in his 50th season as the Voice of the Hoyas, can be heard locally on The Team 980 and on the SiriusXM app.
