(Photo Courtesy of Georgetown Athletics)

Owen McElroy made 17 saves, Gibson Smith caused three turnovers and grabbed six ground balls, and Will Bowen also caused two turnovers.

The Georgetown defense put up numbers, as usual, on Saturday night as the Hoyas defeated Villanova 14-12 to earn their fourth consecutive Big East title and likely lock up the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite the gaudy numbers put up by the Hoyas’ big three on the back and and their jumping out to an 8-1 lead through the 10:35 mark of the second quarter, Villanova gave Georgetown all they had on Saturday night.

Matt Campbell found Brett Baskin for a score with 56 ticks left in the first half to end the Villanova drought. Seconds later, JP Basile found himself with the ball in his stick and put it past McElory with 36 seconds left in the half, cutting the Georgetown lead to 8-3.

From Baskin’s score with just under a minute left in the second quarter through the final buzzer, Villanova outscored Georgetown 11-6. That included a 3-0 run in which the Wildcats closed out the game on that saw Baskin score twice more to end the day with four goals. Patrick Daly also cashed in during that late-game effort.

James Reilly went 15-for-30 (50%) and his 15th draw win of the day came after that final Baskin score with 32 ticks left. On the possession that ensured, Alex Trippi sent one wide. Villanova regained possession and had 17 seconds to possibly make something happen, however Gibson Smith forced his third caused turnover on Reid Colwell to force the failed Wildcats’ clear and end any hope they may have still had.

Graham Bundy, Jr. (3G/4A) and TJ Haley (3G) led the way for the Georgetown offense in the victory.