St. John's Outlasts Men's Basketball, 70-65

JAMAICA, N.Y. D.J. Kennedy scored 21 points as St. John’s handed Seton Hall their third straight loss with a 70-65 victory at Carnsecca Arena on Sunday.  In the loss, sophomore Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) became the 37^th player in Seton Hall history to record 1,000 career points.

Hazell finished with a game-high 22 points on the night.  He becomes the 37^th player in Seton Hall history to record 1,000 points for his career and only the fifth Pirate to do John Garcia (Brentwood, N.Y.) had 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks.

Seton Hall (14-12, 5-9) started the game on fire from three-point range.  Their first four made field goals were all from behind the arc.  Hazell made two of the three-pointers as the Pirates grabbed an early 12-5 lead.  St. John’s answered right back, however, with a 9-0 run to take the lead, 14-12, with 16:01 left in the first half.

Most of the first half was a see-saw battle with the Pirates leading by a slim margin, but Rob Thomas’ uncontested dunk with 2:15 remaining tied the score at 37.  A three-pointer by Malik Boothe with only 23 seconds before halftime capped an 11-0 St. John’s run and gave them their largest lead of the game at 42-37.  The Red Storm held the Pirates scoreless for the final 4:24.

Hazell needed only 22 points coming into today’s game to reach 1,000 for his career and scored a team-best 13 points in the first half.  Justin Burrell came off the bench to lead St. John’s with 11 points.

The Pirates shot 53.8% from the floor in the first half including a blistering 8-for-12 from three-point range.  But Seton Hall committed eight turnovers and were beaten badly, 23-to-14, on the boards.

St. John’s (13-14, 4-10) scored the first five points of the second half to increase their lead to 47-37, but the Pirates continued to battle going on a 7-0 run to pull to within three at 51-48 with 12:00 minutes remaining in regulation. 

After leading most of the first half, Seton Hall trailed most of the second.   But with 3:07 remaining, a Garcia lay-up tied the score at 61.  After a defensive rebound, Eugene Harvey (Brooklyn, N.Y.) missed an open lay-up which would have given the Pirates the lead.  Instead St. John’s re-took the lead on a pair of free throws by Justin Burrell, 63-61, with 1:47 to go and Seton Hall wouldn’t get any closer.

The Pirates lost despite having one of their best shooting games of the season.  Seton Hall shot 47.1% from the floor, compared to St. Johns’ 36.5%.  The Red Storm, however, did most of their damage on the glass, out-rebounding the Pirates, 49-to-31, and pulling down 27 offensive boards. 

Seton Hall returns to action on Wednesday, February 25 when the Pirates host USF.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. 