Qudus Wahab posted 23 points and seven rebounds as Georgetown staved off La Salle 69-62 in the Jamaica Classic consolation game on Sunday in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Two days after the Hoyas blew an 11-point lead in an 84-66, first-round loss to Loyola Marymount, they squandered a 25-point advantage over La Salle before Wahab helped secure the victory.
Brandon Murray had 16 points and six rebounds for Georgetown (3-2) before fouling out. Akok Akok had 10 rebounds with four points.
Jhamir Brickus led La Salle (2-3) with 14 points and knocked down a 3-pointer that tied the game 62-62 with 2:14 to go — concluding a 20-4 Explorers stretch.
Wahab’s jumper in the post on the ensuing Georgetown possession put the Hoyas ahead for good.
Anwar Gill had 13 points and seven rebounds and Khalil Brantley added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Explorers.
The Hoyas scored the game’s first 10 points and moved ahead 18-3 in less than eight minutes. Wahab made his first four shots from the floor en route to a quick nine points.
A 9-0 sprint punctuated by freshman Denver Anglin’s 3-pointer in transition put Georgetown up 35-10 with 4:59 before halftime.
La Salle managed an eight-point run in response, with Gill making two shots. But Ryan Mutombo and Jay Heath made layups in the final minute of the half to hand the Hoyas a 41-21 lead.
Brickus scored the first six points of the second half, making all three shots he attempted, to give the Explorers a spark. Although Georgetown eventually restored the 20-point advantage on Akok’s layup with 13:35 to go, La Salle was able to claw back.
Hassan Drame’s 3-pointer trimmed the score to 60-50, and Gill’s ensuing fast-break layup brought the Explorers within single digits for the first time since the first 4:09 of the game.
Fousseyni Drame scored a layup for La Salle, then grabbed a steal and slammed home a dunk in transition to cut it to 60-56.
–Field Level Media
