Feb. 2, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - Jessie Sapp had 17 points, reserve Patrick Ewing Jr. scored 11 of his career-high 16 in the second half, and No. 6 Georgetown overcame an uneven performance to beat Seton Hall 73-61 on Saturday for its fifth straight victory.

Roy Hibbert added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Hoyas (18-2, 8-1 Big East), who committed a season-high 21 turnovers but still improved to 11-0 at home with their fourth straight win over the Pirates. Georgetown has won 10 of 11 overall.

Brian Laing led Seton Hall (15-7, 5-4) with 24 points, but couldn't extend the Pirates' winning streak to six games. Eugene Harvey added 13 points.

With Georgetown up 45-40, Ewing hit a pair of foul shots for a seven-point cushion. Later, after Paul Gause's layup got the pesky Pirates within 55-48, Ewing tipped in Hibbert's miss, then scored on a slam and converted a layup for a 61-48 lead.

Laing scored 10 first-half points, but Seton Hall shot 6-of-24 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and trailed 33-26 at halftime.

Georgetown committed five of its 13 first-half turnovers in the opening 4:20, couldn't capitalize on an early 7-0 edge in rebounds and failed to establish its outside game during a sloppy start.

By the time a pair of free throws from Larry Davis put the Pirates up 13-12 with 10:54 left in the half, Hoyas coach John Thompson III had already cycled through his starting five and made liberal use of his bench.

DaJuan Summers knocked down two 3-pointers from the left wing and Sapp converted three foul shots after being hacked on an attempted 3, capping a 9-2 run for a 27-21 Georgetown lead.

The Hoyas finally went back to Hibbert inside during a 9-4 burst that opened the second half. Hibbert used two hands to dunk past John Garcia, then followed up with a one-handed, press-breaking jam. Sapp's left-side 3 capped the run for a 42-30 lead.

But Georgetown, which outrebounded the Pirates 49-21, made only four of its first 18 attempts from the field in the second half and Jeremy Hazell's 3-pointer from deep in the left corner got Seton Hall within 42-38 with 11:34 remaining.