Ewing's Timely Block Denies Mountaineers at the Buzzer

Georgetown 58, West Virginia 57

MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Jan. 26 -- Patrick Ewing Jr. waved at the gold-clad West Virginia students as he ran off the court at the end of ninth-ranked Georgetown's 58-57 victory over the Mountaineers on Saturday night, bidding goodbye to a group that had taunted him throughout the game.

Moments after junior Jessie Sapp put Georgetown on top with a step-back three-pointer, Ewing made a game-saving play for the Hoyas -- rising high to swat away Da'Sean Butler's layup attempt as time expired -- and what the sellout crowd of 14,048 and the Mountaineers thought was goaltending.

"I'm not allowed to make a comment. I think it's pretty obvious," said West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins, who was livid at the end of the game, screaming at the officials as they left the court. "People can look at it. Everybody can look at it and make their own decision."

Said Georgetown Coach John Thompson III, "I haven't seen a replay yet. . . . From my vantage point from down at the end of the bench, the effort that Patrick made to get there was tremendous, and to put himself in a position to make that block was unbelievable."

On a day of surprising results in the Big East -- Notre Dame finally winning on the road (and at No. 18 Villanova to boot), short-handed Connecticut upsetting No. 17 Indiana in Assembly Hall, and Rutgers's shocking victory at No. 13 Pittsburgh -- the Hoyas (16-2, 6-1) picked up their most significant road win of the season and remained in sole possession of first place in the conference.

The Coliseum is one of the toughest places to play in the Big East -- only two other conference teams have won here since the start of the 2005-06 season -- and Saturday night, the crowd was especially pumped, because the Mountaineers (15-5, 4-3) had a chance to move into a tie for first place with a win. One fan held up a sign with pictures of Ewing and Thompson, under the heading "Daddy's Disappointments."

But the Hoyas, who trailed by 10 early in the second half and by five with 2 minutes 33 seconds left, remained calm in the final stretch -- unlike the Mountaineers, who missed five second-half free throws -- and pulled off another comeback victory. Three of Georgetown's past four victories have been by three points or fewer in the final seconds.

"I don't think we get rattled," said Thompson, whose team failed to score during a seven-minute stretch in the first half. "We've been down by more than a few points with a little bit of time left and we found a way. We got fortunate tonight, but we have got good players that helped us be fortunate."

Ewing (five points) and Sapp (15 points) were at the forefront of that. Ewing, a senior reserve, helped the Hoyas dig themselves out of the 10-point hole in the second half, passing to his cutting teammates for layups against West Virginia's man-to-man defense. During a 13-4 run that put Georgetown back on top, 45-44, with 7:03 to play, the first eight points came off assists by Ewing.

Sapp, as he did in Georgetown's overtime win over Syracuse on Monday, scored the Hoyas' final five points, the first two coming on free throws with 39 seconds remaining. After Darris Nichols made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Mountaineers ahead, 57-55, with 30.5 seconds on the clock, the Hoyas patiently worked the ball around the perimeter for an open shot, initially looking for senior Jonathan Wallace. With 6.2 seconds left, Sapp pulled up for what turned out to be the game-winning shot.

"We called a play for Jon, and the shot wasn't open for Jon, but we have other options that's in our offense," said Sapp, who made 3 of 7 three-point attempts. "We kept it moving. I saw the opportunity and took the shot and it went in."

But there was still time for West Virginia. The Mountaineers quickly moved the ball downcourt, and as Butler drove to the basket, the 6-foot-8 Ewing came soaring over.

"When they ran the play, I actually didn't call a screen out for Jeremiah [Rivers] and he got hammered on the screen, so the first thing I was thinking of was, I've got to find someway to have my teammate's back," Ewing said. "I don't really remember what happened until I got the block and the game was over. . . . You just kind of react and I guess in that instance, you leave it up to the refs to make the call. This time fortunately it came out our way."

Hoyas Note: DaJuan Summers limped off the floor with 2:33 left in the game, after stumbling and appearing to roll his ankle. Thompson said it "looked pretty bad" but did not have any further information on his condition following the game.