Georgetown Nips Tops In Overtime
By Clark Hanes
BG Daily News

RealVideo Clips:
Tony Wilson with a one-handed circus shot in the lane (1.2mb)
Tony Wilson hits the jumper to send the game to OT (1.2mb)


December 5, 1982

Western is still looking for its first Wendy's Classic title, although star forward Tony Wilson said Saturday night's championship game before a frenzied crowd of 10,400 at Diddle Arena should go down as a win in the record books.

"As far as I'm concerned, this was a win for me, for my teammates, for Coach (Clem) Haskins and for all of Western," said the 6-7 senior after pouring in 25 points, 20 of them in the second half, only to see the host Hilltoppers drop a heartbreaking 70-66 overtime decision to second-ranked Georgetown.

"I know it has to count as a loss," he added, "but I think it proves we can compete with the best teams in the country."

Wilson got no argument from the Hoyas, who raised their record to 5-0, and appeared to be on their way to yet another easy victory in the early going. Georgetown led 32-17 at the half and went ahead by 17 points early in the second half, before Western began a furious rally that saw the Hilltoppers actually in command at the end of regulation play.

Wilson canned a baseline jumper with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 60-60, and Western regained possession moments later when freshman guard David Wingate of the Hoyas missed a driving shot from the left side. But despite the help of two timeouts in the closing seconds, the only shot Western was able to get off at the end was a desperation jumper by Bobby Jones from near mid-court just before the horn.

That gave the Hoyas a chance to regroup, and that they did.

The teams exchanged one-point leads early in the overtime period, but a 10-footer from the baseline by Wingate with just over a minute to play gave Georgetown the lead for good at 67-66. Percy White of Western missed an off-balance shot in the lane on the Hilltoppers next trip down the floor, and the Hoyas put it out of reach with a free throw by Michael Jackson at 0:10 and a rebound basket by seven-foot sophomore Pat Ewing when Jackson missed his second try from the foul line.

Ah yes, Mr. Ewing. For a guy who was known to be intimidating at one end of the floor but suspect on offense...well, you had to see it to believe it.

Ewing, who led the Hoyas to the NCAA finals last year as a freshman, scored a career-high 30 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked three shots and scared off countless others.

"I've said over and over again that Patrick rises to the occasion," said Georgetown coach John Thompson afterwards. "I want to thank Percy White for bumping him a little at the start of the game. That got him fires up, and that's something you don't want to do."

Thompson was referring to an incident between Ewing and White just over four minutes into the game. There was some contact between the two and words were exchanged, but that's as far as it went.

"I'm not really sure what happened," White later said. "I think I might have caught him with an elbow, but it wasn't intentional. He seemed to think it was, but I wasn't going to back down from him. I know he's supposed to be one of the most physical players in the country, but I like to think I'm up there too."

The burly White, only 6-6 but a 225-pounder, muscled his way through Georgwtown's redwoods for 13 points. Junior guard Bobby Jones also hit double figures for the Hilltoppers with 15 points, despite hitting only seven of 18 shots from the field.

Western made only six of 23 field goal attempts in the first half for a horrendous 26 percent, but got hot in the second minutes. A 12-2 spurt got the Hilltoppers within striking distance at 42-36 with only nine minutes gone in the second half, by which time Georgetown knew it had a fight on its hands.

"Georgetown had to make some great shots to keep us from knocking them off tonight, and they made them," said Haskins. "There just wasn't any way we could stop Ewing, not with a 6-6 man trying to guard him."

Western, dropping to 3-1 going into Monday night's home game against Evansville, was represented on the all-tournament team by both Wilson and White. Joining them were Ewing (also named the most valuable player) and Bill Martin of Georgetown and Jeff Hamilton of St. Francis, which defeated Northern Iowa 66-61 in the consolation game.


Previous Game Articles
WKU vs. UAB (1/25/86 - Mars Bars Game)
WKU vs. Auburn (1985 Wendy's Classic)
WKU vs.Florida St. (1993 NCAA Tournament)
WKU vs. Seton Hall (1993 NCAA Tournament)