Georgetown holds off Merrimack with late surge

Wayne Bristol Jr. scored 14 points and made 8 of 11 free throws as Georgetown held off Merrimack 69-67 on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Bristol took control for the Hoyas (5-2) after Jayden Epps was poked in the eye and left the contest three minutes before halftime. Epps, who entered Wednesday leading the Big East with 19.7 points per game, finished with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Supreme Cook notched his second double-double of the season with his 12-point, 12-rebound outing. Kansas State transfer Ismael Massoud tallied nine points and four blocks in his Georgetown debut after missing the Hoyas' first six games with a broken hand.

Georgetown shot 28-for-42 from the free-throw line and made 18 of 26 of its attempts after halftime.

Jordan Derkack paced Merrimack (3-5) with 22 points and seven rebounds while Budd Clark chipped in 11 points.

The Warriors racked up 14 steals and outscored the Hoyas 20-10 in points off turnovers.

Merrimack trailed by two with four seconds left when Derkack missed the latter of a pair of free throws. Savage corralled the offensive rebound and had a clear look from the right block but missed two straight layups just before the buzzer sounded.

The Warriors outshot Georgetown 43.6 percent to 36.0 percent and held a 24-10 advantage in fastbreak points.

Merrimack ripped off 15 straight points over a 4:40 stretch in the second half that vaulted the Warriors ahead 45-39 with 13 1/2 minutes to play. Savage capped Merrimack's 21-4 extended run with a corner triple that gave the Warriors their largest lead at 51-43 midway through the second half.

The Hoyas made eight free throws amid a 12-1 counter surge that flipped their eight-point deficit into a 57-54 advantage with 5:39 remaining.

Georgetown never led by more than four points the rest of the game but prevailed to win its fourth straight contest. It's the Hoyas' longest winning streak since their four-game run to win the Big East Tournament in March 2021.

Epps converted two four-point plays amid a 16-4 run that thrust Georgetown ahead 21-10 at the 9:02 mark of the first half. Those were his only 3-pointers made in three attempts before exiting the game.

Merrimack missed all seven of its 3-point attempts in the first half while the Hoyas shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range to carry a 34-27 lead into the break.

—Field Level Media