(Boxscore)
EL PASO, TX (12/27/05) – Roy Hibbert tallied 18 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead Georgetown to a 61-45 win over Colgate in the first round of the 45th State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament Tuesday night at the Don Haskins Center.
In the other first round game, UTEP defeated winless Mississippi Valley State 74-58 to advance to the championship game on Wednesday night at 9:30 EST. Colgate will play Mississippi Valley in the consolation game at 7:30 EST.
Georgetown (7-2) wins its fourth straight game, while Colgate (5-7) drops its second straight.
Hibbert received scoring help from Brandon Bowman, who tallied 10 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Jonathan Wallace and Ashanti Cook scored nine and eight points, respectively.
Georgetown used a hot-shooting touch in the second half to pull away from the stubborn Raiders. The Hoyas made 67 percent of their second half attempts to finish the game with 23-of-43 for 53.5 percent. Colgate finished with 39.6 percent making only 19-of-48 shots. Colgate out-rebounded the Hoyas 27-25.
Georgetown opened the game jumping out to a 6-0 lead before Kyle Chones scored the Raiders’ first basket at 18:03. The Hoyas were able to increase their advantage to 10 points, 16-6, when Ashanti Cook nailed a 3-pointer with 11:28 left.
Colgate answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Simon and Roemer which was the beginning of a 15-5 run by the Raiders to tie the contest at 21 with 4:35 remaining. Colgate scored all 15 of its points on five 3-pointers with Jon Foss netting his second of the season, and then Gentile making back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the contest.
The Hoyas moved back in front on a basket by Hibbert, before Peter Minchella tied the contest again for the Raiders. Hibbert gave Georgetown a 25-23 halftime lead with his 12th point of the opening 20 minutes.
Georgetown opened the second half with a pair of 3-pointers by Wallace to give the Hoyas an eight-point advantage. With Colgate trailed 36-30, the Raiders outscored the Hoyas 7-2 to move to within one point with 11:03 left. Roemer had five points and Minchella added a basket in the run.
Unfortunately, Georgetown scored the next 12 points to take control of the contest. Colgate didn’t score another basket until Minchella’s dunk with 6:16 remaining in the contest.
GAME NOTES: Roemer, who had three 3-pointers, has scored a 3-pointer in 15 straight games. He is 12th all-time in 3-pointers made with 82 … Alvin Reed, who didn’t score a basket until there was 3:56 left in the game, had two assists to move into fourth place all-time with 273 … Kendall Chones was hurt by foul trouble for the second straight game. He played only 12 minutes scoring four points and grabbing four rebounds … The Raiders are 0-7 when trailing at halftime.
