PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
The definitive source for all PirateCrew news.
By Colin Rajala
Seton Hall finally did it, it only took the five games, but the Pirates broke the 60-point barrier, and that’s not even the best part, the Pirates broke the 60-point barrier against a top-10 defensive team in the country on route to a 69-66 overtime victory over VCU in the opening round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic Thursday evening.
The matchup was a back-and-forth affair featuring nine ties and 14 lead changes. The Pirates found themselves trailing by as much as eight in the second half until regaining the lead with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation before allowing VCU to force overtime on a layup with less than three ticks remaining.
That sequence of end-game events would crush most teams, but not the Pirates, who showed their toughness and resilience to earn its best win of the year, a win that could earn a resume boosting quad-one designation come March, after dropping two straight games to mid-major opponents by a combined two points.
Sophomore forward David Tubek was a perfect three for three from the field against the Rams, with all coming from distance, and none was bigger than the one he buried from the wing with the shot clock winding down to give Seton Hall a four-point advantage, 68-64, an advantage they would not squander over the final 35 seconds of overtime.
While the triple from Tubek proved to be the late game heroics, the Pirates would not have been in a position to defeat VCU, who came in as the favorite to win the Charleston Classic and the preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10 Conference, without guard Chaunce Jenkins.
Jenkins, the transfer from Old Dominion, scored nine straight points at the end of regulation and into overtime to pull the Pirates over the proverbial hump.
He led all scorers with 22 points, which all came in the second half and overtime after he was held scoreless in the first half plagued with foul trouble, while shooting 6/12 from the field, 1/2 from three and 9/11 from the free throw line and contributing five rebounds and two assists.
Pacing Seton Hall was guard/wing Isaiah Coleman with 12 points, ten rebounds and one steal in an intense defensive effort all night.
Seton Hall played a solid opening 20 minutes despite going over six minutes without a field goal near the end of the half, keeping VCU within four points, but the Pirates could not get out of their own way, committing nine turnovers leading to 11 points for the Rams, and they entered the second half trailing, 28-25.
VCU went on a 9-2 run early in the second half to take an eight point lead, 37-29, tied for its largest of the game, before the first television timeout. The Rams later extended their lead back to eight, 44-36, on an offensive rebound and putback with more than 11 minutes remaining.
The Hall remained steadfast and chipped away at the VCU lead, tying the game at 50 with just over six minutes remaining on a layup from Coleman off the assist from sophomore guard Garwey Dual. After VCU regained the lead on the ensuing possession, Tubek connected on a three off the dish from forward Yacine Toumi to give the Pirates their first lead, 53-52, since they led 20-19 in the first half.
VCU proceeded to take the lead again and held it until Jenkins tied the game at 57 on a free throw with one minute and change remaining. The free throw was the first of the five points Jenkins scored to end the second half to give Seton Hall the 61-59 lead with 15 seconds left.
Seton Hall overplayed VCU at the three-point line on the final possession of the second half and allowed Max Shulga to force overtime on a layup.
Shulga led VCU with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Zeb Jackson scored 15 points and Joe Bamisile recorded 13 points in the losing effort.
In overtime, Jenkins proceeded to score Seton Hall’s first four points, on a drive to the hoop and an impressive turnaround fadeaway jumper from the baseline for a 65-63 lead before Tubek’s game winning dagger less than two minutes remaining. If Jenkins didn’t do enough to win it, he did enough to seal it as he converted one of two from the charity stripe with ten seconds remaining.
Thoughts:
I’ve been referring to David Tubek as Threebek since seeing him drain some open threes last year and I think we can all refer to him as such moving forward. Two huge long range shots from him at the end of regulation and then one in overtime to notch the win.
First half, and what ended up being the entire game, was entertaining and exciting. The first half featured four ties and 11 lead changes, while there were nine ties and 14 lead changes for the game.
Team shot 16-25 (64%) from the free throw line, which is better than their 57% season average coming in, but their floor is severely capped until that improves.
It was nice to see Coleman hit a spot up three early as it seemed to lift his sails. He proceeded to play a great game on both ends and looked more assertive doing so.
Coleman looks like he’s leaning/fading on his jumpers as well as some shots in the lane, hopefully it's just my eyes and not something larger that impacts his shot.
I had a feeling Dual was going to have a good game after his first two possessions. First possession he had a nice drive into the lane but missed a contested layup attempt pretty badly. The next drive he made, he wasn’t as rattled, made the right decision to kick out for a three that Addae-Wusu made. Not surprising that we played better and ended up winning when Dual contributed positively. Final stat line: 6 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block.
In the first half we had a couple of instances of turning VCU over to just give it right back to them. That is a hard way to go on runs if you want to win.
Thought Middleton attacking the middle of the court and converting on a couple of shots, including one jumper, was a nice development, but I was a bit surprised not to see him at all in the second half or overtime.
As good as the team played relative to earlier games, it was still maddening to see the botch a couple of passes and catches that could have led to easy buckets/points. Toumi isn’t the biggest or strongest but Shaheen needs to emphasize going to the hoop stronger to him after a couple of wild attempts going toward the hoop where he tried to be acrobatic on a layup and took an off-balance floater.
