Seton Hall University
Virginia Tech
Seton Hall Upends Virginia Tech
11/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2013
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) stepped up in the clutch for the Seton Hall men's basketball team Saturday in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Barclays Center. The senior guard buried his biggest bucket of the season, a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining, to help lift the Pirates to a 68-67 victory over Virginia Tech (3-3). Edwin converted all four of his free-throw attempts after the three to score seven of his team-high 18 points during a complete momentum swing that sent Seton Hall off with its fourth win of the year.
The Pirates also received key production from senior Eugene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) who went for a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Senior Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) scored double-figures (11 points) for the second straight night and freshman Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) posted a career-high 13 points with four three-pointers. In the clutch, it was sophomore guard Tom Maayan (Galil, Israel) who also made plays when the Pirates need it most. He finished with eight points and a team-high five assists.
Trailing by four coming out of a timeout with 1:44 remaining, Maayan drove right side and delivered a layup to get Seton Hall within 61-59. With 38 seconds on the clock, Hokie forward C.J. Barksdale missed the front end of a one-and-one. Teague secured the rebound, his 10th of the game, and the Pirates were off and running. Maayan pushed the ball up court and found Edwin on the right side who knocked down an open look from beyond the arc that gave Seton Hall a lead (62-61) it would not relinquish.
Seton Hall sank all six of its free-throws in the last 12 seconds to offset a pair of wild threes by Virginia Tech's Ben Emelogu. Emelogu posted 18 points shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from three point range. The Hokies were led by senior forward Jarell Eddie who scored a game-high 19 points going 6-for-19 from the field. He pulled down 11 rebounds.
The Pirates withstood Virginia Tech's hot shooting start as the Hokies rushed out to a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game. Red-shirt sophomore guard Adam Smith sparked the surge with back-to-back threes helping Virginia Tech to a 14-4 lead.
Midway through the first half, the Pirates put together a 14-3 run to take their first lead of the contest at 4:37 with a free-throw from Teague. Sina buried three consecutive three-pointers within a 1:25 span to power the offensive flurry. Sina shot 4-for-4 from downtown in the first half.
The Hall carried a two point advantage into intermission, but could not build its lead larger than five points in the second half. Despite shooting 26.7% in the second stanza, the Pirates found a way through a resilient effort by Edwin who had 13 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes. Edwin got it done on the defensive end, as well, making three steals to surpass Seton Hall Associate Head Coach Shaheen Holloway on the career steals list with 234.
Edwin was named to the 2013 Coaches vs. Cancer All-Tournament Team joining Michigan State seniors Adrien Payne and Keith Appling, Oklahoma senior Cameron Clark and Virginia Tech senior Jarrell Eddie. Appling was named the Most Valuable Player.
Seton Hall (4-2) has a week to regroup before returning to action on Sunday at the Prudential Center when the Pirates host Fairleigh Dickinson at 2 p.m. The contest will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 and on the radio 970 AM WNYM.
