Washington, D.C.  –  Senior center Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep) scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and tied his career-high with six blocked shots, three players scored in double figures and seven different players scored as No. 11 Georgetown used a balanced effort to pull away from Providence for a 68-58 win at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Rhode Island Monday afternoon.

It was the eighth win in the last 10 games for the Hoyas, who improve to 21-4 overall and 11-3 in the BIG EAST, moving into sole possession of first place in the league.  Providence falls to 13-13 overall and 4-10 in league play.

Georgetown trailed by one at the half (30-29), but a dunk from Brian McKenzie gave the Friars a 32-29 lead.  Three-straight baskets from Hibbert gave the Hoyas a 35-34 lead, but Providence used  a 7-0 run over a span of 1:08 to take their biggest lead, 41-35, on a three-pointer from Weyinmi Efejuku with 15:40 50 play.

Back-to-back three-pointers from senior guards Tyler Crawford (Stuarts Draft, Va./Robert E. Lee) and Jonathan Wallace ( Harvest , Ala. /Sparkman) tied the game at 41-all with 13:07 to play.  That triggered a 17-2 run over a span of 4:33 as the Hoyas used five shots from three-point land and took their biggest lead of the game, 52-43, on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Jeremiah Rivers (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park) with 9:22 to play. 

A three from McKenzie and one from Efejuku narrowed the Hoya lead to 54-49, but six-straight points – a Hibbert jumper, a pair of free throws from sophomore forward DaJuan Summers (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) and a steal and layup from senior forward Patrick Ewing, Jr. (Marietta, Ga./National Christian Academy [ Md. ]) – gave Georgetown its biggest lead, 60-49 with 4:50 to play.  During the Georgetown run, the Hoyas limited Providence to only two field goals during an eight-minute span. 

It was a closely-contested first half, with eight ties and six lead changes as the teams battled back and forth.  Five of the ties came in the first nine-plus minutes of the game.  A jumper from Efejuku with 10:52 to play tied the game at 13-all, but Georgetown scored seven-straight points, taking a 20-13 lead after Rivers fed Summers for an alley-oop.  The Hoyas had six field goals on their first eight baskets and a basket from Hibbert, who scored eight points in the first half, gave GU a 22-17 lead.

Providence, however, fought back, using a 12-4 run over 3:31 to take a 25-24 lead on a pair of free throws from Efejuku, who scored 15 points in the first half.  A dunk from Summers gave the Hoyas a 26-25 lead and a free throw from Marshon Brooks tied the game at 26-all.  A three from Sapp gave the Hoyas a 29-26 lead, but Ejejuku’s third shot from long distance in the half tied the game with 22 seconds and a free throw from Jamine Peterson gave PC a 30-29 lead at the break.

Hibbert hit 9-of-15 shots from the field to finish with 18 points, while Wallace scored 14 points, had two rebounds and two assists and Summers added 11 points.  The Hoyas received 15 points from their bench, with Crawford scoring five points and grabbing three boards, Rivers finishing with five points and six boards and Ewing adding five points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 21 minutes.

The Hoyas shot 40.0 percent from the floor (26-of-65), were 38.1 percent from three-point land (8-of-21) and 53.3 percent from the free throw line (8-of-15).  GU held a 43-26 advantage in rebounding and had 14 assists, with 10 turnovers.

The Hoyas play three of their final four conference games at home, starting with a date on Saturday, February 23 against Cincinnati .