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Ben Bentil Huge in DC Again

Bentil Georgetown

Ben Bentil was once a Georgetown recruit — and he seems intent on making the Hoyas pay whenever he walks into their building.

It probably didn’t faze many in D.C. when Bentil committed to Providence after being mentioned with Georgetown for so long — not with a recruiting class filled with three top 40 recruits in Isaac Copeland (#16 nationally per ESPN), LJ Peak (#31) and Paul White (#34).

Bentil had been quiet prior to his first game in the Verizon Center as a freshman. He’d had just two double digit scoring outings 22 games into his freshman year, but showed newfound aggression against the Hoyas, finishing with a 16 point, 11 rebound double double that included nine free throw attempts.

That game was a springboard for Bentil, who put up 16 points at Xavier the next time out and added four more double doubles over the final month of the season.

He was at it again in Providence’s victory on Saturday night at Georgetown.

PC stumbled out of the gate, missing their first six shots, but Bentil ripped off nine straight points — a stretch that included a 3 pointer, a dunk, and a pair of jumpers.

That spurt put Providence up 9-7 and they never trailed again.

Bentil started strong, making eight of his first nine field goal attempts in PC’s 73-69 victory. He finished with 26 points and nine rebounds on the game, and finished off Georgetown at the free throw line late, making all six of his free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds to seal it.

The Friars are a shaky bunch from the free throw line, with the exception of Bentil, who is making them at 81% this season. He closed out Georgetown just six days after doing the same against Villanova. Bentil scored eight points in the final 1:18 of overtime in the win at Nova, capping off a tremendous performance in which he scored 31 points and snatched 13 rebounds.

20+ point games are now the norm for PC’s enforcer. He’s put up 20 or more in seven of PC’s nine conference games and just wrapped up a stretch in which he scored 31 at Villanova, 25 against Xavier, and 26 more versus the Hoyas. Bentil took 29 free throw attempts over this span.

The one-time Georgetown recruit has scored 42 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in his two games in their building — numbers that have become the norm during his terrific sophomore season.

It all began in D.C. a year ago.

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

 

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