Dozier's heroics send Tigers to Quarterfinals

For 30 minutes of Thursday's Round of 16 game versus Northwestern, the Georgetown Tigers had most of the control. Georgetown led by as many as 17 in the 2nd half but could not hold it as the offense went cold and Northwestern rallied. The Red Raiders came all the way back to take a lead in the final minute. Tae Dozier then stepped up with the biggest shot of his career, a long 3-pointer with 21 seconds left that gave Georgetown a lead it would not give up in a 73-70 thrilling win that sent the Tigers to the Quarterfinals for the 22nd time in school history.

The teams traded the lead several times in the early minutes. Northwestern built a 14-9 lead with 13:41 to play. Georgetown then made a run of its own. 4 straight from Jaquias Franklin, followed by a Gavin Stevens 3 moments later were part of an 8-2 run that pushed the Tigers ahead, 17-16. Northwestern countered with 5 in a row to take a lead of 4. The Tigers punched back as Stevens hit a 2nd three. After an Aden Nyekan steal, Tae Dozier went flying for a lob slam for the lead. Stevens followed with his third 3. Jabrion Spikes did the same on the next possession to cap an 11-0 run for a 28-21 lead with 9 minutes to play.

Northwestern hit a free throw and a 3 to get within 3, but a countering 3 from Dozier and a Dre Boyd jumper inside quickly pushed Georgetown's lead to 33-25 with 7:09 to go until the break. With 6:13 to play, Dozier hit another 3 to give Georgetown a lead of 9. Each defense would then settle in and hold the game scoreless for over 2 minutes, until Jaquias Franklin reintroduced himself with a 3 to give the Tigers a 39-27 lead. He followed with a midrange jumper for a 14-point lead. The lead reached 16 twice in the final minutes and ultimately settled at 15 going to halftime. A late lay-in from Dozier gave the Tigers a 48-33 lead at the break. Georgetown entered the game averaging 7 made threes per game. They knocked down 9 in the first 20 minutes of the quarterfinal.

Dre Boyd got the 2nd half off to a nice start with a dunk after a Red Raider missed 3 to extend the lead to 17. Northwestern chipped away and cut Georgetown's lead to 11 at 51-40 three minutes into the half. Jaquias Franklin countered with a score inside to get a mini-run for the Tigers going. A Tae Dozier lob slam and a jumper from Franklin capped a 6-0 spurt for another 17-point lead with 14 minutes to play. A Darien Lewis tip-in with 10:48 to go put the Tigers ahead, 61-49. It was also the last points Georgetown would score for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. In that time, Northwestern rolled off 9 unanswered to cut the Tiger lead all the way down to 3 at 61-58. After a GC miss, Northwestern had a chance to tie, but a turnover led to a Tae Dozier score and a 5-point lead with 6:15 to go and snap the scoring drought. Northwestern countered with a 3-point play on the next possession to cut the lead to 2. Georgetown got breathing room again as Dre Boyd grabbed an offensive board and stuck the putback to double the lead to 4 at 65-61 with 5:23 to play.

Northwestern hit a free throw with 4:26 to go to inch closer. Georgetown then found a clutch shot from Darien Lewis. With the shot clock running down, Lewis drove to the foul line, pulled up and drained a jumper for a 67-62 lead. Georgetown got a stop but turned it over on its next possession. Northwestern took advantage with a score inside. Dre Boyd then missed 2 free throws with 2:17 to play. The Red Raiders went inside and scored again to cut Georgetown's lead to 1 at 67-66 with 2 minutes left. Georgetown had 2 chances on its next sequence but came up empty. Northwestern went to the paint and scored one more time to take a 68-67 lead with 90 seconds to go. It was their first lead since the 10:37 mark of the 1st half (21-20).

Georgetown took possession down 1. Jaquias Franklin fired a 3 with 1:09 to go but missed short. Georgetown's defense forced a turnover with 50 seconds left to get the ball back. Tae Dozier missed a tough turnaround jumper at the foul line and Georgetown fouled with 34 seconds to play. Northwestern converted 1 of 2 for a 2-point lead. Georgetown called a timeout with 28 seconds left. Out of the huddle, Franklin took a dribble to the left elbow, fired a reverse pass to Dozier, who caught it right in stride. Dozier launched the deep 3 and watched it go down with 21 seconds left to give the Tigers a 70-69 lead. Northwestern called a timeout and tried to go inside again, but Dre Boyd came up with a big defensive stop. Dozier stepped to the line and sank 2 free throws with 3 seconds left for a 72-69 lead. Northwestern was forced to go 94 feet to try to force overtime. Georgetown took the shot out of the equation by fouling at midcourt. The Red Raiders made the first and intentionally missed the 2nd. Andres Burney grabbed the board with a second to go. Burney hit 1 of 2 at the line for the 3-point win.

The shot from Dozier was the only 3-pointer Georgetown made after halftime. The Tigers missed on their first 11 tries. Dozier finished the game with 21 points. Jaquias Frankin led all scorers with 23. Dre Boyd turned in a strong two-way performance: 8 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Darien Lewis struggled with his shot all night but pulled down 10 rebounds and had 4 assists.

Lost in the 2nd half madness was Georgetown's perimeter defense. Northwestern entered the game as the best three-point shooting team in the NAIA at 42.9%. The Tigers held the Red Raiders to 5-21 from beyond the arc in the game. As a result, Northwestern scored 20 points under its season average (90.3).

Georgetown will get Friday off to prepare for a Quarterfinal matchup against the Naismith Quadrant top seed, College of Idaho, who cruised past 4-seed Langston, 95-65, in the other game of the quadrant. The Tigers will be looking to advance to the 17th Fab Four in program history. Tipoff from Kansas City is set for Saturday at 4:00pm ET.