Courtesy of Georgetown College Athletics
Georgetown had been without the services of versatile forward, Aden Nyekan, since Nov. 15. He made his return to the court Monday and did not miss a beat. Nyekan scored 17 points in 16 minutes off the bench as No. 1 Georgetown moved to 14-0 on the season with an 82-61 win over Simmons College.
Simmons got off to a 6-2 lead before Darien Lewis free throws and an Andres Burney slam tied the game at the 15:15 mark. Georgetown took its first lead on a Jaquias Franklin 3 with 13:11 to go for an 11-10 edge. Tae Dozier followed with a putback slam and Simmons called a timeout. Nyekan then got going with two buckets inside that capped an 11-0 run as Georgetown went out to a 19-10 lead before Simmons got on the board again. Two more threes from Franklin and one from Scotty Browning pushed the Tiger edge to 29-18 at the 6-minute mark of the first half. Georgetown continued to stretch the lead thanks to 63% first-half shooting as it took a 43-28 edge to the locker room.
Simmons again started fast with 6 straight after halftime. Jabrion Spikes got Georgetown on the board, setting up a series of bucket exchanges for the next 4 minutes. With Georgetown leading 53-42 at the 13-minute mark, the Tigers began to make their move. With the perimeter shots not falling, they went on the attack inside. Jaquias Franklin and Nyekan each scored in the paint. The lead was 60-48 at the midway point. Georgetown continued to push as Spikes and Tae Dozier both scored at the rim. After Simmons hit its first 3 of the game with 8:45 to go, Dozier scored again at the rack for a 66-51 lead. The Tigers scored 8 of the next 10, capped by Nyekan for a 74-53 edge with just over five minutes to go. The teams traded baskets from there as Georgetown ended with the 21-point margin.
Simmons had zero answers for Georgetown in the interior. The Tigers shot a staggering 71% (30-42) inside the arc on Monday night. Franklin did the most damage from the perimeter with three 3s, en route to a game-high 21 points. Nyekan shot 7-8 from the floor in his return for those 17 points. Dozier turned in another strong overall performance. The junior finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. It marked the seventh time this season Dozier ended with multiple steals in a game.
Georgetown will take the rest of 2024 off and return to action on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 against Miami-Hamilton with a 6 p.m. scheduled tip time.
