BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
NEWARK, N.J. The Seton Hall men’s basketball team topped Columbia, 71-50, to start the 2008-09 season 2-0. Sophomore Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) led the Pirates for the second consecutive game with 21 points on 4-of-9 shooting beyond the arc.
Junior Eugene Harvey (Brooklyn, N.Y) played a strong all-around game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Senior John Garcia (Brentwood, N.Y.) netted 11 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
Seton Hall scored the first seven points of the game, but the Lions (1-1) rallied to make it 21-17 with 8:30 to go in the first half. A spinning Harvey found Garcia under the hoop for an easy bucket to highlight a 10-0 run to extend the lead to 31-17 with 3:57 in the period.
Columbia did not allow another field goal the rest of the half, and used an 8-0 spurt to head into the intermission down just, 34-27.
The Pirates stormed out of the break, scoring 11 unanswered points to push the margin to 45-27 with 14:30 remaining in regulation. Junior Robert Mitchell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drove the lane for a layup to give the Hall its largest lead of the game, 55-32, with 10:17 on the clock. The Lions Patrick Foley made it a 63-46 game, but that would be as close as
Columbia would get as the Pirates went on for the victory.
SHU shot just 37.3 percent from floor, but outrebounded the Lions, 46-34. Mitchell finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Pirates. Foley was the only Lion in double-figures with 10 points.
The Pirates return to action on Thursday, November 20, against USC as part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
