PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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By Zack Cziryak
Al-Amir Dawes hit two free throws with 10 seconds left, K.C. Ndefo did a little bit of everything and Seton Hall escaped DePaul in a 71-67 road victory Saturday afternoon at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Like he has so many times in his career, including as one of the heroes of last year’s Elite 8 run by the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, Ndefo made play after play to keep the Pirates (11-8, 4-4) ahead in a tight one in the Windy City, finishing with a game high 16 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 2 assists and a steal.
The Dawes free throws, which staked the Pirates to a 2-possession lead and gave the Pirates the final score, came moments after Ndefo grabbed the offensive rebound on the second of two free throws taken by Femi Odukale, whose was at the line following a possession salvaged by Ndefo tying up Javan Johnson under the basket after his own miss on a putback.
Ndefo, a 60% free throw shooter coming into the day, also made two free throws to extend the Pirate lead to 68-64 at the 1:00 mark and did it all after committing his fourth foul with 2:04 left in the second half, one of his only bad decisions of the day as he picked it up well away from the basket and with Seton Hall already in the penalty.
Dawes added 15 points and 3 steals, Tyrese Samuel added 12 points and Odukale came off the bench to notch 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. DePaul (8-10, 2-5) saw 5 players hit double figures in the loss, with DaSean Nelson tallying a team high 15, Yor Anei notching 13, Umoja Gibson hitting 11 and both Johnson and Philmon Gebrewhit finishing with 10 points apiece.
Seton Hall looked like they were going to pull away in the last few minutes, taking a 66-61 lead with under 2 minutes in the game after tying it at 60 with more than 5 minutes to go, until back-to-back threes by Gebrewhit and Johnson would cut the lead down to 1.
The Hall finished 15-23 from the free throw line, 65.2% compared to 87.5% on 14-16 shooting from DePaul on the day.
A surprisingly offensive start gave way to defensive adjustments from both squads, with the Pirates outscoring DePaul 32-28 after halftime following a 39-39 finish to the first half.
Seton Hall outshot the Blue Demons 46.4% to 44.9% from the field and 36.4% to 34.6% from beyond the arc, with DePaul firing up 26 threes compared to 11 from the Pirates, who also only gave up 13 turnovers to 15 from DePaul.
The Hall also dominated around the basket, holding a 37-27 rebounding advantage, including 15 to 7 on the offensive glass that yielded a 17-8 difference in second chance points. They also doubled up the Blue Demons in the paint 40 points to 20.
The Pirates head home to the Prudential Center for a two-game homestand with Connecticut Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET and Marquette next Saturday at 4 p.m.
