By Zack Cziryak
The Seton Hall Pirates rallied to overcome a 19-point deficit and dispatch the St. John’s Red Storm in the programs’ first-ever game at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. on Sunday evening.
The turning point of what had become a forgettable matchup on Long Island changed at the 3:25 mark of the first half when Hall Head Coach Shaheen Holloway was called for a technical foul. Down 15 points at the time, Holloway’s consternation with an offensive foul call against Pirate point guard Kadary Richmond would lead to St. John’s extending the lead to 17 on the technical free throws and then a game-high 19 on the ensuing awarded possession after the Johnnies picked apart the Pirate zone. The result: 38-19 with 3:08 left in the first half.
The Pirates would chip away at the lead, trailing only 41-29 in the Red Storm’s largest halftime advantage in a Big East game this season as part of a 16-2 run that bookended, including 6-0 to start the second half, that would cut the Red Storm lead to 41-35. The Hall would eventually tie the game at 45 with 8 and a half minutes left and take its first lead on a goaltending call on a transition layup from Al-Amir Dawes moments later before closing out the 68-62 victory.
Joel Soriano, the embattled all-conference center benched by Head Coach Rick Pitino for the start of the Red Storm’s previous matchup, paced all scorers in the first half with 11 points to go along with four rebounds, a block and a steal. Seton Hall had 9 first half turnovers to only 10 made field goals and gave up 14 fast break points.
A drive by former Johnnie Dylan Addae-Wusu drew an old-fashioned three-point play against his former teammate in Soriano that would push the Pirates to a 50-46 lead with 7:30 remaining. After coughing up a 19-point lead, St. John’s would tie the game at 50 on a transition jumper from Daniss Jenkins in a shot that would fire the home crowd up.
The Johnnies would retake the lead again before Seton Hall closed out the road victory, much of it on the strength of the Pirates getting to the line as they shot 24 more free throws than St. John’s, converting on 24-37 compared to 10-13 for the Red Storm.
Dawes led the way for the Pirates with 19 points, including converting all six of his free throw attempts, while Richmond registered a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jenkins poured in 17 points as of one of two double-digit scorers for the Johnnies, while Soriano would muster only 2 points in the second half against a locked in Pirates defense while collecting a double-double with 12 rebounds.
It wasn’t pretty, as the Hall shot only 37% from the floor and 20% from three but was able to out rebound the Red Storm 44-42. The Pirates also turned the ball over only twice in the second half while forcing 15 total St. John’s turnovers.
The win burnishes a Hall resume with its fifth Quad 1 and road victories of the season and brings the Pirates to an even 7-7 mark in combined Quad 1 and 2 games heading into the final five games of the regular season.
The victory also moves Seton Hall (17-9, 10-5) back into a tie for third place in the Big East standings with Creighton, which defeated bubble counterpart Butler in Indianapolis the day before.
The Pirates return to action after nearly a week off this Saturday night against the Bulldogs at 8:30 p.m. in the return match at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Seton Hall defeated Butler 78-72 on Jan. 13 on the road.
