MBB Falls in Regular Season Finale
3/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NEWARK, N.J. - Seton Hall and Rutgers met on the basketball court as dueling members of the BIG EAST conference for the final time on Friday night, and the Pirates fell 56-51 in the regular season finale.
Sophomore Aaron Cosby (Louisville, Ky.) scored 10 points in the second half and finished with 13 to lead four Pirates in double-figures. Eugene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) shouldered much of the offensive load in the first half and recorded 11 points and eight rebounds on the night.
Rutgers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Pirates scored the next six behind two scores from Teague to go ahead for the first time in the game at the 16:04 mark. Over the next four minutes, both teams put five points on the board, each adding a three-pointer and a bucket in the paint to send the squads into the second media timeout still separated by one point. Poor shooting and giveaways plagued both sides offensively, but Cosby found Teague wide open on the roll to the basket and Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) finished a frantic end-to-end stretch with an easy layup, prompting RU to take their second timeout in less than a minute, trailing by six with 8:39 before the half. Just before the seven minute mark, Myles Mack converted on two free throws to break a scoreless drought of over five minutes for the Scarlet Knights and kick-starting an 8-1 Rutgers run.
Teague put an end to the run with a turnaround from the left block, but Jerome Seagears answered with his second triple of the half to put the visitors on top 21-19. One possession after hitting 1-of-2 from the line, Edwin found space in front of the Rutgers bench for a three of his own, putting The Hall ahead, 23-21. Kyle Smyth (River Edge, N.J.) later found Haralds Karlis (Riga, Latvia) down low for a dunk on SHU's final offensive trip of the period, and the Pirates took a 25-23 lead into the locker room.
Despite a 16-6 Seton Hall advantage in points in the paint over the first 20 minutes, Rutgers stayed within one possession thanks to 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. The teams also combined for 17 turnovers, resulting in a back-and-forth half that saw the lead change hands seven times.
The Scarlet Knights came out of the break on fire, scoring 15 of the first 18 points in the half to open up a 38-28 advantage with 14:27 to go. Seton Hall weathered the storm however, and found their rhythm, getting back into the game with dead-eye long-range shooting. Over the next three minutes both Cosby and Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) hit a pair of three-pointers as The Hall rattled off a 12-2 run to knot the score at 40-40. The teams split the next 14 points, and in quintessential Seton Hall-Rutgers fashion, the game was left to be decided in the closing minutes.
Following three RU free-throws, a Mike Poole jumper stretched the gap to five with 1:44 remaining. Edwin scored in close off a feed from Oliver to cut the SHU deficit to three, but despite two missed free-throws from Rutgers in the closing seconds, the Pirates were unable to secure the rebound, allowing the Scarlet Knights three opportunities from the line, which they used to seal the win.
Edwin ended the night with 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Oliver chipped in 12 points in his first start since February 2 against Cincinnati.
Mack led all scorers with 15 points for Rutgers (14-15, 5-13) and added a game-high five steals.
The Pirates are locked into the 12-13 matchup, the first game of next week's BIG EAST Tournament, and will face USF in the opening round on Tuesday, March 12. Start-time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Madison Square Garden.
