Georgetown against Villanova: Need I say more. There is nowhere in the county I can go without seeing T shirts saying how much Villanova fans hate Georgetown. As we know envy can be a dangerous emotion. Anyway, I would not miss the short drive up I-95 to see this Big East battle. It seemed like only yesterday, the Hoyas had lost a tough ball game with Temple on Broad Street. As soon as I entered sky box 16 at Wells Fargo Arena I knew this would be a different day. I ran into my good friend Ashley Darcy and her fiancee Kevin Mahoney. Ashley was wearing the jersey of one of my favorite Hoyas #33 Alonzo Mourning! The mood in the box was electric. I saw my good Philly friends Rich Hluchan, Jack McNamara and their families. The game was your typical Villanova--Georgetown war.
The story of the first half to me was Henry Sims and Nate Lubick. It was obvious that Georgetown had a renewed energy for their team defense. They were ready for Villanova's tall, athletic front court. Henry Sims had a great half, and his offensive moves kept a 5-6 point lead for the Hoyas. His defense and rebounding were what impressed me though. In the second half I got a little nervous as Villanova made several runs to the delight of the crowd. However, Julian Vaughan played wonderfully on defense, and at the free throw line. Nate Lubick made the HoyaNation proud with his blue collar work. I loved the way the Hoyas battled in the second half. Needless to say Austin Freeman had his swagger back as he scored on his defenders often at will. Chris Wright struggled a little on offense, but had the heart of a champion with his tough defense. His splitting of the Nova double team late in the game to find Austin Freeman will go down in the annals of Georgetown basketball as one of our great moments. Austin drained the rainbow three-pointer from the corner to beat the shot clock. Austin's falling backwards bank shot from the right side was the stuff of legend. Georgetown would not be denied this evening. As I left the arena to head back to Georgetown I saw a friendly face in the parking lot--Chris Wright's father. I shared with him how happy I was to get the victory. I love Mr. Wright's smile. I can see that Chris Wright gets his champion's heart from his parent. Chris, Austin, and the entire Georgetown team had dug down deep and found a way to win this afternoon!
What a weekend. It truly made my day seeing all of the former Hoya Blue alumni led by Kurt Mulbauer leading the Georgetown fight song. After all it does not get much better than a Big East win in South Philadelphia.
We Are Georgetown! Hoya Saxa!
Dr. Thomas A. Wong
Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications
Proud Member of Generation Ewing
