Georgetown Upsets Golden Eagles in Round of 16, 80-67
KANSAS CITY (March 15, 2013) - Senior guard Abel Galliguez notched a season-high 22 points, but No. 13 Georgetown (Ky.) used a 12-point halftime advantage to pave the way for a 80-67 victory over 4th-seeded John Brown (28-7) at the 2013 Buffalo-Funds NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championships.
Galliguez converted six triples en route to his game-high total, while junior forward Kurtis Phillips dished out a game-high four assists. No other Golden Eagles was able to find double-digit scoring, but freshman guard Kofi Josephs and senior guard Coleson Rakestraw chipped in with nine points apiece, combining for five three-pointers.
Senior forward Vic Moses turned in his second double-double of the tournament, posting 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for Georgetown. Junior guard Monty Wilson and freshman forward Deondre McWhorter each had 18 points to lead the Tigers while senior guard Garel Craig chipped in with 16 points and five rebounds.
The Tigers (25-8) used a marked size advantage to claim a 48-31 rebounding edge, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second chance points. Georgetown was effective in the paint, recording 42 points in the lane on the way to a 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) shooting performance. Moses scored six points by the 13:47 mark as the Tigers jumped out to a 14-4 lead. John Brown battled back to tie the game at 27-27 with 4:42 left in the half, but Georgetown scored the final 12 points of the half with each bucket coming in the paint, carrying a 39-27 advantage into the intermission.
The second half started with another surge as the Golden Eagles controlled the first 10 minutes of the half to cut the deficit to one, 51-50. The third and final tie of the game was achieved on a three-pointer by Galliguez with 5:44 to play, but the Tigers responded with a 15-2 run over 3:43 and never led by less than nine points the rest of the way.
“Give them credit, every time we came close to taking the lead they had an answer,” said head coach Clark Sheehy. “What an incredible class of seniors we’re losing, but they’re moving on to great things. You can ever hope to replace guys like E.J., Coleson and Abel; we can only hope our young guys are willing to step up next season."
Galliguez did his best to keep John Brown in the game, scoring 19 of his team-leading 22 points in the second half as he hit 6-of-8 three-point shots and 8-of-12 overall from the field for the game. The rest of the Golden Eagles, however, made just 6-of-23 attempts from beyond the arc. Georgetown also took advantage of a 17-7 margin at the free throw line, taking 14 more shots from the charity stripe.
John Brown ends its most successful season in program history at 28-7 and with the loss, falls to 10-6 all-time in Kansas City. JBU exits the tournament in the Round of 16 for the third time after falling in back-to-back years in 2003 and 2004. The Golden Eagles won a record 25 games in the 2012-13 regular season and captured its first-ever Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title. The game also marked the end of three senior's careers: Abel Galliguez, Coleson Rakestraw and E.J. McWoods. Over the past four seasons, the group pieced together the greatest four-year mark of any graduating class, eclipsing the 100-win total, finishing with an overall record of 100-35 and a 74.1 winning percentage.
