2nd half 3-point shooting denies Tigers sweep of FHU

13th-ranked Georgetown went for the regular season sweep of #6 Freed-Hardeman on Thursday night at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym. While the action was tight for most of the game, Georgetown fans felt a sweep was coming late in the first half as the Tigers built a lead of 10, but could not hold it as Freed-Hardeman shot 9-13 from 3-point range in the 2nd half, en route to an 80-71 win. The result also sent Georgetown to its 2nd straight loss in MSC play and 4-4 in the league.

Cam Brooks-Harris got off to a nice start, scoring 7 of Georgetown's 1st 13 points to give the Tigers a 3-point lead with 14:16 left in the first. Aden Nyekan scored inside just a minute later to keep the lead at 3 and cause FHU to take a timeout. Tommy Thomas then made the first of 2 big impacts on the game. After a lay-in with 12:10 to go, the New York native followed with a 3 at the 10:08 mark, giving Georgetown a 22-18 edge. He followed with a basket on the next possession, pushing the lead to 6. It would be Georgetown's last field goal for nearly 4 minutes, but the Tigers stayed ahead thanks to solid, aggressive defending.

With the game tied at 25, Kyran Jones and Tae Dozier combined for 5 in a row, keeping FHU behind. Jabrion Spikes hit 2 free throws with 1:37 to go that put Georgetown up 36-29. After each team got defensive stops, Georgetown made the extra hustle plays in grabbing 2 offensive boards on the same possession, leading to a Cam Brooks-Harris 3 that gave Georgetown a 39-29 lead with just 18 seconds left. FHU countered with a lay-in with 7 seconds left, then a steal and another lay-in as the horn sounded, cutting the Georgetown lead to 39-33 at halftime. A big factor for the Tiger lead was perimeter defending as Freed-Hardeman shot just 2-10 from beyond the arc.

Early in the 2nd half, Georgetown looked like it was here to stay on both ends of the floor and would not let Freed-Hardeman get over the hump. A 3 from Jabrion Spikes gave Georgetown a 45-38 with 16:49 to go, but what followed on the other end proved to be the Tigers' undoing. Freed-Hardeman hit its next 6 three-pointers and surged ahead, 58-53, with 11:20 remaining. Seth Johnson countered with a 3 of his own with 9:30 to go that brought Georgetown back within 2. Tommy Thomas assisted on the 3, then blocked a layup attempt on the other end. After another stop, Thomas raced down the court and scored along with a foul. The free throw sent Georgetown back into the lead at 59-58 with 8:35 to go. Thomas next hit a midrange jumper to send Freed-Hardeman to a timeout, trailing 61-58 with 7:50 left.

While Thomas' run was needed and effective, that jump shot began a stretch of nearly 6 minutes without a made basket after for the Tigers. In that time, Freed-Hardeman kept hitting timely 3s and went on a 15-5 run to take a 73-66 lead with 2 minutes to go. Jabrion Spikes tried to fight back with a 3-point play to get Georgetown within 4. After a missed FHU 3, Spikes hit 2 more free throws and Georgetown was back within 2 with 1:23 left. The Lions countered with a basket inside after an offensive rebound. Spikes missed a shot inside on the next possession and FHU got the rebound, hit 1-2 free throws and led 76-71 with 38 seconds to go. Georgetown's last efforts came up short as the Lions finished the game with 2 runout dunks for the 9-point win.

Georgetown's 3-point struggles were unfortunately on display in the game as the Tigers shot just 6-24 from downtown, compared to 11-23 from Freed-Hardeman. It proved a small part of the Tigers' offensive struggles as the team shot under 40% for the game. Despite a +12 rebound margin, the team only came away with a +5 advantage in 2nd chance points.

Jabrion Spikes led GC in scoring with 15. Kyran Jones scored 13 points and grabbed 9 boards. Cam Brooks-Harris and Tommy Thomas each tallied 12 points. Rashad Bishop grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Georgetown will look to go back above .500 in the MSC against Bethel on Saturday. Tip time is set for 3:00pm at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.