Men's Basketball punches ticket back to Kansas City

Georgetown Men's Basketball is going back to Kansas City after an exciting, 83-64 win over Saint Francis on Saturday night at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym. It marks the 8th time under Chris Briggs that the Tigers have reached the Round of 16 in the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship.

Andres Burney picked up where he left off on Friday by hitting the opening shot of the game on Saturday. He added a tip-in bucket with 16:43 to play to tie the game at 5. The first half was a physical battle as both teams struggled to consistently find shots. Georgetown's defense held Saint Francis scoreless for nearly 5 minutes of the half to go from down 5-2, to leading 10-5. At the midway point of the half, Gavin Stevens took an inbound and found himself wide open in the corner for a converted 3 that gave the Tigers a 15-11 lead. Georgetown then went scoreless for over 3 minutes as the Cougars scored 6 straight to retake the lead. Dre Boyd tied the game up at 17 with 7:10 to play until the break.

Saint Francis used its defense to slowly pull back ahead, 26-23 with just under 4 minutes to play. Tae Dozier hit a tying 3 with 2:40 to go. After 2 Cougar free throws, Georgetown went back inside to Burney for the tie. Dre Boyd hit free throws with 1:20 to go for a 30-28 lead. After a Cougar miss, Jaquias Franklin found a driving lane for a layup and a 4-point lead. Saint Francis called a timeout and scored 4 out of it to tie the game again. With 5 seconds left, Tae Dozier took the inbound pass and raced into frontcourt and hit a 19-foot jumper at the buzzer to give Georgetown a 34-32 lead at halftime.

Saint Francis hit an opening 3 in the 2nd half to take a 1-point lead. Free throws from Andres Burney flipped the lead back to the Tigers, but the Cougars followed it with another 3 for a 38-36 lead with 18:27 to play. Free throws doubled the Cougar lead to 4. Georgetown countered by going in the paint. Dre Boyd scored twice around a jumper from Burney to tie the game at 42 with 16:27 left. Just over 2 minutes later, the same script showed itself. Saint Francis took a 4-point lead, and Georgetown tied it right back up with 4 free throws from Tae Dozier. The free throws kickstarted a 12-1 run over 3 minutes, 11 seconds as Georgetown surged ahead, 56-49. The Cougars' Isaiah Malone then threw down a dunk to cut the deficit to 5 but was called for a technical foul after for taunting. Free throws from Jaquias Franklin and a bucket from Dre Boyd pushed the lead to 60-51 with 9:48 to play.

Saint Francis missed 2 free throws on its next possession. Georgetown took advantage. Boyd found a cutting Franklin for a layup to push the lead to 11. After a Cougar missed 3, Franklin missed a jumper but got a second chance with a Jabrion Spikes offensive rebound. Franklin found himself wide open for a 3 and the ball never touched the rim to give Georgetown a 65-51 lead with 8:35 to go.

The run all started when Aden Nyekan entered the game. The forward came in with 15:17 to play and the game tied at 44. His intensity and physicality bothered and frustrated Isaiah Malone and took Saint Francis out of its offensive rhythm. The next time Nyekan checked out, the scoreboard showed 7:30 remaining and a 67-52 Georgetown lead. In that time, Saint Francis missed 8 of 11 shots and put up 8 points.

After a Saint Francis free throw and the clock going under 6 minutes, Tae Dozier took a dribble left at the top of the key, spun back right and found a wide open lane for a highlight reel slam. It brought the crowd to its feet and grew the lead to 16. Dozier then hit a three on the next possession for a 72-55 lead. Georgetown got a stop and took the clock under 5 minutes. Dre Boyd delivered the dagger with a rainbow corner 3 to push the lead to 20. Saint Francis never got closer than 17 the rest of the way as the Cougars saw their season come to an end.

Dre Boyd led Georgetown with 23 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Tae Dozier and Jaquias Franklin each scored 16. Andres Burney finished the night with 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Georgetown's 2nd half defense was the difference maker. Saint Francis made just 9 baskets after halftime, shooting 36%, and 2-12 from three-point range.

The Tigers now head to Kansas City where they will take on 6-seed Northwestern (IA) in the Round of 16. The game will be on Thursday, March 20th, at 8:00pm ET inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.