Julius Halaifonua put up a career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and host Georgetown scored the first seven points of overtime in order to stave off Saint Peter’s 76-68 on Saturday in Washington.
Halaifonua also tied a career mark with nine rebounds and helped Georgetown establish its 40-22 advantage in points in the paint. Caleb Williams bundled 14 points and eight rebounds, and Jeremiah Williams scored six of his 10 points in overtime for the Hoyas (7-3).
Bryce Eaton poured in a season-high 23 points, Brent Bland scored 13 and Jakhi Gupton had 10 for Saint Peter’s (4-5), which used 11 steals and opportunistic scoring to force the extra session.
Momentum belonged to the visitors when the teams took the court for overtime, but Isaiah Abraham opened the scoring for Georgetown with an electric dunk, Halaifonua converted a layup a minute later and Jeremiah Williams added a three-point play. It was a free-throw battle the rest of the way.
Saint Peter’s faced a 52-40 deficit with 8:41 left in regulation but pulled off an improbable comeback, partly because the Peacocks held the Hoyas without a made field goal for a span of over nine minutes.
Georgetown made nine free throws in that span, but Saint Peter’s clawed back with triples by Bland and Gupton. Halaifonua scored a putback after Bol Agu blocked his teammate’s shot, ending the shooting drought with 1:35 left.
Eaton hit a jumper with 48 seconds left, then recorded a steal and got fouled by KJ Lewis. After he made the ensuing free throws, Malik Mack faced a press and tried a tough jumping pass that was knocked in the air. Eaton drew yet another foul and tied the game 60-60 from the line with 33 seconds left.
Saint Peter’s had a chance to win it in regulation after yet another Georgetown turnover, when Bland stole it from Mack, but Bland’s late 3-pointer bounced off the rim.
Georgetown opened up a 20-8 lead less than nine minutes into the game, but Eaton and Bland hit 3-pointers in transition to halve the deficit. It became a 13-5 Saint Peter’s stretch to close the margin to four points, as the Hoyas missed eight of their last 11 field goal attempts of the half. Georgetown went to the locker room ahead 31-24.
