Georgetown Almost Collapsed in the Final Minutes Against UMBC
Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
When the Hoyas headed to the locker room at halftime today against UMBC tied at 42, some of the fans in attendance at Capital One Arena could be overheard saying ” not again.”
The not again is referring to the loss last week at home to American and another sub-par first half by the Hoyas offensively.
This game was all UMBC from the start and the Retrievers jumped out to a 9-2 early lead before Hoyas Head Coach Patrick Ewing had to use his first time out.
This was the second game Ewing struggled to find a fluid scoring combination without Brandon Murray in the line-up.
Jay Heath was 9 of 18 shooting (5 for 6 from distance) for the Hoyas (4-3). Primo Spears added 20 points while shooting 8 for 16, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc, and they also had six rebounds and six assists. Qudus Wahab recorded 10 points and was 3 of 7 shooting and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
UMBC would not go quietly, cutting the lead to 11 points with 3 minutes left as the Hoya offense just fell apart as it has in quite a few games dating back to last season.
The Hoyas continued to crumble as two back-to-back threes by Picarelli threes sliced the lead to five with a minute left. But Heath settled matters by hitting two free throws and an uncontested Bristol dunk sealed the win for good.
Matteo Picarelli led the Retrievers (3-4) in scoring, finishing with 19 points. Colton Lawrence added 17 points and eight rebounds for UMBC. Jarvis Doles also had nine points and nine rebounds.
“We have found a couple good combinations that seem to work in the second half, but we can’t continue to have teams get that close in the final minutes,” said Hoyas Head Coach Patrick Ewing.
Next up for the Hoyas is another tough match-up against Texas Tech on the road in Lubbock.
