Seton Hall University
Longwood
MBB Routs Longwood, 79-61
12/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NEWARK, N.J. – All 11 healthy players saw action and nine scored as the Seton Hall men’s basketball team rolled to a 79-61 victory over Longwood on Wednesday at the Prudential Center.
Seton Hall improved to 9-2 on the season and has now beaten the Lancers in three straight seasons with an average margin of victory exceeding 23 points.
Do-it-all junior swingman Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) found the mark on 7-of-10 field goal attempts and was a perfect 3-for-3 from long range in just 18 minutes, leading Seton Hall in scoring for the fourth consecutive game with a game-high 19 points. Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) also connected on three three-pointers, matching his season-high with 13 points to go with four rebounds and four assists in a well-rounded effort.
Freshman big man Kevin Johnson (Compton, Calif.) impressed in his first career start, tallying 11 points on 5-for-6 from the floor and hauling in a team-high eight rebounds.
Third-year head coach Kevin Willard went deep into his bench early and the Pirates responded, as 10 team members recorded at least seven minutes and eight different players scored in the opening 20 minutes to help SHU to its largest first half point total of the season. Donning their gray uniforms for the first time this year, The Hall’s first three field goals came from behind the arc as a long-range connection from Aaron Cosby (Louisville, Ky.) put the home team ahead, 11-7, just under five minutes into the contest. Another three-pointer from Oliver stretched the gap to eight at 19-11, but the Lancers responded by scoring seven of the game’s next 11 points.
After Cosby ended the run with two free throws, the Louisville native found Edwin down low on the right block, leading to an acrobatic finish over two defenders that gave Seton Hall a 27-18 advantage. Edwin went on to score nine of the next 10 points as the Pirates rattled off a 12-0 run that opened up a decisive 35-18 edge with 4:30 before the intermission. In the final minutes prior to the break Pirates’ lead twice grew to 21 points, the final time coming as Oliver provided an exclamation mark with a trifecta that just beat the horn to give SHU a 46-25 lead heading into the break.
The Pirates came out of the intermission displaying the same offensive prowess they displayed in the first half, scoring 12 of the first 17 points in the period to widen the gap to 58-30 with 16:25 to play. Just over four minutes later, two consecutive layups from Johnson gave SHU its largest lead of the night at 67-34, paving the way for the Pirates to cruise to their sixth victory by a double-digit margin this season.
Cosby connected on both of his field goal attempts, each of them three-pointers, to finish with nine points and four assists. Kyle Smyth (River Edge, N.J.) played the role of facilitator, delivering a game-high five assists, the highest total he has recorded in a Seton Hall uniform and just one off his career high despite playing only 14 minutes.
In all, ball movement served the Pirates well as SHU recorded a season-best 21 assists on 27 field goals.
Sophomore Freddie Wilson (New Haven, Conn.) came off the bench to match career-highs with seven points and three assists. Gene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) added six points and six rebounds in just 13 minutes of action, while Haralds Karlis (Riga, Lativa) was extremely active on the glass in extended playing time, snatching a career-best seven boards.
Jeylani Dublin scored 13 points to lead Longwood, who fell to 3-9 on the season.
Seton Hall will return to the court on Saturday, December 22 when they travel to the all-new Barclay’s Center to take on Long Island University as part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
