Hoyas Frozen by ODU on Snowy Night

In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best night for Georgetown to play.

In one of the few events in the Washington, D.C. area that was not canceled by the near-record snowstorm, the 11th-ranked Hoyas lost for the first time this season, as Old Dominion dominated them throughout and held on for a 61-57 victory at Georgetown's on-campus arena.

It was by far the sloppiest game -- and one of the coldest offensively -- of the season for Georgetown (8-1), which was playing its only game of the season in McDonough Arena, its 58-year-old, 2,500-capacity campus gym, which was home to the program until 1981-82.

Old Dominion (7-4) made it to Washington by bus Friday night just ahead of the storm that dumped two feet of snow on the city; the weather remained bad enough throughout the game that the video feed for the regional network televising the game was knocked off for about 10 minutes of second-half play.

The Monarchs led by as much as 18 early in the second half and held a double-digit lead most of the game, until a furious Georgetown comeback in the last five minutes. Down 54-39 with 9:27 left, Georgetown clawed to within 59-57 when center Greg Monroe hit one of a pair of free throws with 1:16 to go.

On the ensuing possession, however, forward Frank Hassell put back a jump hook by Keyon Carter with 44.6 seconds left to boost the lead to four. Georgetown never scored again -- the Hoyas missed twice at the other end, got the ball back out of bounds and then threw the next inbounds pass away with 17.6 seconds left, their 18th turnover of the game.

Georgetown also shot 22 free throws to Old Dominion's five, but missed eight at the line; Monroe, who led all scorers with 17 points -- including a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 59-54 -- was 5-for-9 from the line. Hassell finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Old Dominion.

Since the 2000-01 season, Georgetown has played 17 games at McDonough, usually in December before Big East play begins. Their last game on campus was in December 2007. Its only two losses there have been to the Monarchs; Old Dominion surprised the Hoyas 75-62 in 2006, as well.

Nearly every other activity in the Washington metropolitan area was called off because of the snow that hit the East Coast; with Old Dominion in town and the game on campus, Georgetown officials decided to play the game as scheduled. Verizon Center, Georgetown's home court since its opening in 1997, canceled its scheduled events -- the Radio City Christmas Spectacular -- early Saturday afternoon.

Both teams, like most teams around the country, were taking finals in the past week; Georgetown's previous game, a week ago, might have been its most impressive win in its 8-0 start, a 74-66 win over Washington in Anaheim.

Georgetown's women's basketball team still calls McDonough home; its game there Sunday afternoon was postponed Friday because its opponent, Jacksonville State, had its connecting flights to Washington canceled. No makeup date was announced.