PirateCrew: Seton Hall Pirates Football & Basketball Recruiting
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It was a battle of styles in Wednesday evening’s Icons of the Game matchup at the Nassau Coliseum between Seton Hall, known for its physicality and defensive chops under Head Coach Shaheen Holloway, and Hofstra, a high-scoring team that’s been at the top of the CAA since alum and former NBA player Speedy Claxton took over the helm three years ago,.
Seton Hall slowed down Hofstra to nearly a grinding halt after the Pride averaged 89.5 points in their first two games entering the matchup, but the Pirates saw a former player come up clutch as they fell in the neutral site matchup 49-48, their second straight to a mid-major in as many games.
Jaquan Sanders, who transferred to Hofstra in the offseason from Seton Hall after its NIT Champion run, buried a three with less than two minutes remaining to give Hofstra the lead, 49-45, which they would not relinquish.
Dylan Addae-Wusu connected on a three from the wing off the assist from fellow graduate player Chaunce Jenkins to close the score to one with 50 seconds remaining before Seton Hall secured a defensive rebound with 19 seconds remaining to give themselves an opportunity to escape Long Island with a win. The Pirates have struggled to look cohesive offensively through the early part of the season and it proved to be their undoing once again as they came out of their final timeout and ultimately settled for a jumper from the corner, and not a particularly clean look at that.
It was more of the same missteps and miscues abound for a Seton Hall team sporting 10 new players and returning only one starter from a year ago as they committed 14 turnovers, scored one fast break point despite causing 14 turnovers and shot 47.1% from the charity stripe (8/17), 35.4% from the field (17/48) and 30% from three (6/20).
Leading Hofstra was Jean Aranguren with 13 points and six assists, while Sanders registered 12 points and four rebounds.
Pacing Seton Hall was Jenkins with 18 points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist and Addae-Wusu with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal, while freshman Godswill Erheriene tallied six points, six rebounds a block and an assist in his third collegiate start.
The Hall jumped out to an early 5-0 lead to start the contest, but was unable to grow the lead further as they turned it over and missed three layups leading to a three minute scoring drought, which allowed the Pride to take an 8-7 lead halfway through the opening half.
Down 13-12 with just over six minutes to go in the first half, the Pirates put together a 7-0 run as Erheriene faked a screen, dove to the hoop and dunked the ball off the dish from Addae-Wusu then put back an offensive rebound on the next possession before Jenkins hit a three for a 19-13 lead, which would grow to the team’s largest, 22-15, just a possession later as Addae-Wusu connected on a triple.
Seton Hall committed three turnovers and missed two layups over the final four minutes of the half to enter halftime up just two, 24-22.
Hofstra kept the game tight throughout the second half and it was evident with just under eight minutes remaining that the Pirates would not do themselves any favors in the contest as they proceeded to go 1/6 from the free throw-line over the course of one possession that saw Yacine Toumi go 0/4 from the charity stripe, while Addae-Wusu corralled two offensive rebounds and missed the first of two freebie attempts for a 39-36 lead.
Over the course of the final six minutes, Seton Hall committed three turnovers and converted on just one of three attempts from the foul line to allow Hofstra to come away with the win despite leading for just five minutes all night.
Thoughts/Musings
While there’s not much too look forward to with this team right now, try and enjoy what Jenkins brings to the squad. Loved seeing him attack the hoop early and play off the attack shortly thereafter and step into a three.
Hate to think about how this game would have looked without Jenkins/Addae-Wusu.
Addae-Wusu is a truly maddening player to watch as a fan. Early and late in the first half he has miscues and lost the ball, but at the same time he played through a pick and roll two on one, shielding the ball away from his defender and scored. I think at the end of the day I just don’t love him as a lead facilitator particularly because it seems like we get into sets even later than we have historically.
Zion Harmon played on the court with Addae-Wusu in the first half and wasn’t the primary ball-handler, which can be viewed as frustrating. He needs to find a way to earn Sha’s trust and earn some time on the court and fast.
Sanders was not impressive and looked very much like the same player that he was at Seton Hall, but we sure could use a guy that knows how to put the ball through the hoop.
Another example of this team being disjointed and pressing came after Yalden attempted a long three early, which I was relatively fine with. Later he hoisted another three attempt when he would’ve been better suited to pass it up and make the extra pass to the open man on the wing.
The Godswill dunk off the fake screen and drive before the offensive rebound putback and the Jenkins three was probably the three best consecutive possession the team has had all year.
Toumi, who is rail thin in the mold of someone like Robert ‘Stix’ Mitchell, as the second unit center seems to lead to him racking up fouls. I would like to see more of Toumi at the four with Godswill at center, who been challenging well at the rim and really looks like he belongs at the high D1 level as a freshman.
This team needs Coleman to just do more, plain and simple. It’s probably more than a bit unfair to ask the world of him as a sophomore, but he has one of if not the highest ceiling on the team and he needs to find a way to impact the game more if this team is going to win.
