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Little Rock forces overtime, drops slugfest to Georgetown

Trojans rallied from five points down in the final minute to force OT.

Trailing Georgetown by five with 23 seconds to play, Little Rock rallied to within two and a three pointer by Ryan Pippins from well beyond the arc as time expired tied the game at 84-84 at the end of regulation. But the Hoyas outscored the Trojans 18-10 in overtime, stifling Little Rock's upset bid at Capital One Arena.
 
Little Rock built a one point lead at the end of the first half and held the Hoyas to just 25% shooting in the second, including forcing Georgetown to go 0-for-8 from three-point range. But 19 Trojan turnovers over the final 25 minutes proved to be too much to overcome.
 
Little Rock shot an even 50% for the game, converting 28 of its 56 shots, and was solid from the free throw line, making 32 of its 40 attempts (80.0%). The Trojans held the Hoyas to 40.5% shooting for the game and 36% from beyond the arc, outscoring Georgetown 36-28 in the paint.
 
Nikola Maric paced the Trojans with a career-high 27 points, going 8-for-10 from the floor and connecting on nine of his 12 free throw attempts, while pulling down eight rebounds. His effort was nearly matched by Markquis Nowell's 24-point performance as the freshman was clutch down the stretch for Little Rock, making 12 of his 13 free throw attempts.  He also led the team with six assists on the afternoon.
 
Rayjon Tucker continued his impressive play, notching his third double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while adding four assists and a pair of blocks. Kamani Johnson was the other Trojan to finish in double figures, posting 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting with three assists.
 
But the Trojans were haunted by Georgetown's front court as the freshman duo of Mac McClung and James Akinjko combined for 63 points, paced by 38 from McClung – a new opponent high against the Trojans this season.
 
Rolling with a starting lineup consisting of four true freshmen, Little Rock held its own early against Georgetown, leading for the first 12 minutes of the game and by as many as six at 11-5 early.
 
Behind their two freshman guards, Georgetown raced back on 7-of-9 from beyond the arc, turning the six-point deficit into a seven-point advantage at 43-36 with just over 6:30 remaining in the opening half.
 
But Little Rock wasn't phased by the run on the road as the Trojans put together a 14-0 run of its own, turning that seven-point deficit in to a seven-point lead at 50-43 with just over three minutes remaining in the half, paced by seven points by Maric.
 
Georgetown chipped away at the Trojan advantage over the final three minutes, pulling to within one at 52-51 as the first half came to a close. Little Rock had a chance at the end of the first to extend its lead, but a lay-up by Tucker as time expired rimmed out to keep the Trojan lead at one.
 
Little Rock's defense held Georgetown in check early in the second period, but turnovers prevented the Trojans from taking advantage of the Hoyas cold shooting. Little Rock pushed its lead to four early in the second half at 59-55, but Georgetown slowly began to capitalize on the Little Rock miscues, outscoring the Trojans 21-9 over the next 10 minutes, building its largest lead of the game at 76-68 at the final media timeout.
 
Free throws, an area that had plagued Little Rock early in the season, became its ally down the stretch against the Hoyas with the Trojans making 10 over the final four minutes to pull closer. Trailing 79-74 with under a minute to play, Nowell converted on a pair, then knocked down all three when he was fouled on a three-point attempt with 16 seconds remaining, pulling the Trojans to within two at 81-79.
 
After Georgetown hit one of two free throws at its end, Nowell knocked down two more with eight second remaining, pulling the Trojans to within one at 82-81. Georgetown's McClung stepped to the free throw line with six seconds left and missed his first of the day after hitting 11-straight, but he got a second chance after pulling down his own rebound and getting fouled in the process.
 
McClung hit one of two, giving Little Rock one last chance and setting up the dramatic three-pointer from well beyond the arc from Pippins, banking off the glass as time expired to send the game to overtime.
 
Little Rock and Georgetown battled back and forth for the first three minutes of the overtime stanza, but costly miscues by the Trojans helped fuel a 12-1 run for the hometown Hoyas over the ensuing 90 seconds, helping Georgetown put the game away.
 
In all, the two teams combined for 14 ties and 11 lead changes in the evenly matched contest. The matchup was the first for Little Rock in our nation's capital and the first for head coach Darrell Walker against former teammate Patrick Ewing, the head coach of the Hoyas.
 
The heartbreaker closes out the non-conference season, as well as the calendar year of 2018 for Little Rock as the Trojans will not return to the court until after the New Year. Little Rock's next game will be its Sun Belt Conference opener at ULM on Thursday, January 3, 2019.

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