Men's Basketball Hangs On To Top Louisville, 80-77
1/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team held off a furious late rally and picked up a hard-fought, 80-77, win over Louisville on Thursday evening. Junior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) led five double-figure scorers with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.
Sophomore Jordan Theodore (Englewood, N.J.) was a sparkplug on both ends of the floor and scored 17 points, dished out four assists, and added three steals. Sophomore Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) netted 10 points and pulled down eight boards. Edgar Sosa led the Cardinals (12-7, 3-3) with 15 points.
The Pirates (11-6, 2-4) raced out to a 12-4 lead after Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.) found Keon Lawrence (Newark, N.J.) open on the wing for a three-pointer with 15:59 left in the first half. Louisville's Terrence Jennings scored on a tip-in to cut the deficit to 25-22, but Seton Hall went on a mini 6-1 run, on three-pointers by Hazell and Theodore.
Senior John Garcia (Brentwood, N.Y.) slammed home a pass from classmate Eugene Harvey (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who made a nifty pass out of a double-team, to stretch the advantage to 11, and the Pirates took a 46-36 lead into halftime.
SHU held a comfortable margin through the majority of the second half, and took its largest lead of the game, 72-59, on a high-flying dunk by Robinson with 4:41 left on the clock.
Trailing by 12 points with just 3:29 remaining in regulation, the Cardinals went on an 11-1 run over the next two minutes to pull within, 75-72. After a Pirate turnover, Sosa looked to make it a one-point game, but Lawrence hustled down the floor to block a layup, leading to a Hazell stuff to extend the cushion to five with 34 seconds left.
Samardo Samuels responded with a second-chance bucket, making it a one-possession game again. Theodore and Lawrence each went 1-for-2 from the line to put Seton Hall ahead, 79-74, with eight seconds remaining.
Louisville raced down the floor and found Jerry Smith open on the right wing for three, who drilled the shot with two seconds on the clock, but the Pirates were able to inbound the ball successfully to hold on for the victory.
Seton Hall shot 52.7 percent from the floor, and 41.7 percent from three-point land (5-of-12). The Cardinals bench outscored the Pirates reserves, 33-8.
Seton Hall returns to action on Sunday, January 24, against ninth-ranked Pittsburgh at 2:00 p.m.
