WASHINGTON – Senior center Henry Sims (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) scored a career-high 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and had five assists, while junior forward Hollis Thompson (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) chipped in 13 points, four rebounds and four assists as eight different players scored at least one point, leading the Georgetown men’s basketball team to an 83-54 win over Savannah State in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Verizon Center. The Hoyas are now 1-0 overall, while Savannah State is 0-1.

Senior guard Jason Clark (Arlington, Va./Bishop O’Connell) added nine points, two assists and two steals, while sophomore forward Nate Lubick (Southborough, Mass./St. Mark’s) added eight points, seven rebounds and tied a career-high with five assists and freshman forward Otto Porter (Sikeston, Mo./Scott County Central) added nine points and eight rebounds.

 The Hoyas led by eight points (32-24) at the break, but a three-pointer Deric Rudolph and a layup from Joshua Montomery cut the lead to 32-29 20 seconds into the half and forced Georgetown to call a timeout. The Hoyas responded with a 10-0 run over 3:12 capped by a layup from Sims that forced the Tigers to call a timeout. After the timeout, the run continued with a dunk from Lubick giving the Hoyas a 44-29 lead.

 After a jumper from Rashad Hassan cut the lead to 44-31, Georgetown used an 8-0 run and took its biggest lead, 52-31, on a three-pointer from Thompson with 12:53 to play.

 Georgetown opened up a 32-24 lead at the half, with Savannah State hanging within four points for most of the first 20 minutes. Leading by only four points, 25-21, after a jumper from Patrick Hendley, the Hoyas used a 7-0 spurt over 2:49 and took a 32-21 lead on a free throw from freshman guard Jabril Trawick (Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends). A three-pointer from Deric Rudolph cut the lead to eight points.

 The Hoyas led from the start after a basket from Sims, but the Tigers hung in, cutting the lead to three points, 10-7, on a layup from Rashad Hassan. A mini run of 6-1 gave GU a 16-8 lead on a layup from Clark with 9:16 6o play. The lead was still eight points, 23-15, on a three-pointer from and Greg Whittington (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) with 5:38 left in the half, but the Tigers used a 6-2 spurt to pull within four points.