NIT : Minnesota Defeats Georgetown for Title

Arriel McDonald scored 14 of his 20 points during the second half and Minnesota withstood a late Georgetown rally to defeat the Hoyas, 62-61, Wednesday night for its first NIT championship.

Minnesota (22-10) managed to win despite going scoreless during the last 4 1/2 minutes.

“It’s been a great experience for us, and we’re going to use it as a springboard for next year,” Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins said. “To me, it’s a mission accomplished.”

Georgetown (20-13) scored 10 consecutive points, cutting Minnesota’s lead to 62-61 with 1:41 to play on a free throw by freshman Othella Harrington.

Georgetown got the ball after Minnesota’s Randy Carter missed two free throws with 24.3 seconds to play. But after working the ball for a good shot, Kevin Millen missed a 15-foot jumper with about three seconds remaining.

The ball was knocked out of bounds by Minnesota, however, and Georgetown got one more chance with four-tenths of a second to play. A lob pass to Harrington was stolen by Minnesota’s Voshon Lenard and time ran out.

“We wanted to make sure they got no lobs,” said Lenard, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player after scoring 17 points. “We wanted to clog up the middle and that’s what we did.”

Harrington led Georgetown with 17 points and Joey Brown added 14.

Georgetown, which trailed by two points at halftime, took a 43-41 lead on a three-point play by Brown with 15:42 to play.

But Minnesota went on a 13-2 run that started with a bank shot by Townsend Orr. Georgetown’s Duane Spencer was ejected on the play for throwing a punch, and Jayson Walton made two technical foul shots to give Minnesota a 45-43 lead.

After a layup by Harrington, Minnesota scored nine consecutive points to take a 54-45 lead. McDonald scored seven points during the run on two baskets and three free throws.