Sat Jan 26 22:18:44 2008

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Hoyas slide by Mountaineers on Sapp's three

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Morgantown, WV (Sports Network) - Jessie Sapp scored 15 points, including a game-winning three-pointer with 6.2 seconds remaining as ninth-ranked Georgetown pulled out a 58-57 victory over West Virginia.

Roy Hibbert scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Georgetown (16-2, 6-1 Big East) won its third straight game and tightened its hold on first place in the conference standings. Austin Freeman and DaJuan Summers each pitched in eight points in the victory.

Darris Nichols led all scorers with 16 points for West Virginia (15-5, 4-3), and Alex Ruoff contributed 13 points. Da'Sean Butler added 12 points for the Mountaineers, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.

With the Hoyas trailing 57-55 after Nichols went 1-of-2 at the free throw line with 31 seconds remaining, Sapp stepped up to save the Hoyas. He took a pass from Jonathan Wallace at the top of the key, faked a drive into the lane, pulled up and drilled the three to put Georgetown on top.

Butler had a chance to win the game for West Virginia, as he drove the baseline and put up a finger roll that seemed destined for the hoop. But Patrick Ewing Jr. swooped in to bat the shot away, allowing the Hoyas to escape WVU Coliseum with the win.

The Mountaineers controlled most of the second half thanks to a barrage from three-point range early on, as Ruoff, Jamie Smalligan and Nichols combined to nail three shots from beyond the arc as part of a 13-3 run to start the half. It gave West Virginia a 37-28 lead less than five minutes in.

But Georgetown's defense stiffened up, and the Hoyas began to methodically chip away at the Mountaineers until Freeman's layup with seven minutes remaining gave the Hoyas their first lead since the start of the half.

Nichols responded just 18 seconds later with another three for the Mountaineers, putting them back on top by two, followed by a pair of free throws from Joe Alexander that gave West Virginia a 49-45 lead.

Georgetown continued to hang tough, and after trailing by as many as five the Hoyas cut the lead to one on a putback by Hibbert with 1:22 remaining. Nichols responded with a driving layup to push the lead to 56-53, but Sapp hit a pair of free throws to close the gap back to one with 39 seconds left.

Neither team held more than a six point lead in the first half. After Ruoff's three gave WVU a 24-18 lead with 4:40 left, the Hoyas closed the period on a 7-0 run and took a 25-24 lead into the break.

Game Notes

The loss snapped the Mountaineers' 15-game home winning streak. West Virginia had not lost at home since falling 60-47 to Pittsburgh on February 7, 2007...Georgetown made 46.7 percent of its shots, West Virginia shot just 39.1 percent from the field...The Mountaineers went 9-of-21 from three-point range...Georgetown improved to 5-2 as the visitor this season.