Seton Hall University
Mercer
Mobley, Gibbs Lead MBB Past Mercer, 63-47
11/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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NEWARK, N.J. - On a day where a number of Pirates made their debuts for new look Seton Hall men's basketball team it was a pair of familiar faces in senior Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) and junior Sterling Gibbs (Scotch Plains, N.J.) who led the way as The Hall opened the 2014-15 season with a 63-47 victory over Mercer.
Mobley poured in a team-high 19 points for Seton Hall (1-0) behind a career-best 4-for-4 mark from beyond the arc and snatched nine rebounds while Gibbs added 17 points, five assists and three steals without a turnover in 34 minutes.
Mobley recorded 14 points in the second half as he and Gibbs combined for 23 of the team's 28 points in the period.
The first game of the season evolved into a battle of runs and it was the Pirates who delivered the decisive blow by dominating down the stretch.
Six consecutive points for Mercer pulled the Bears to within 47-42 with just under nine minutes to play but Gibbs fed Mobley for a trey on the ensuing possession that kick-started a stretch of 14-straight points for The Hall that put the result out of question.
The run was punctuated by a 3-pointer from sophomore Jaren Sina (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) that gave the Pirates their largest lead of the day at 61-44 with 1:46 to go. The long-distance connection was the first and only Seton Hall field goal recorded by a player other than Gibbs and Mobley in the second half.
The procession of runs originated in the latter part of the first period as The Hall was the first to pull away early when Gibbs assisted on consecutive corner treys from Sina that broke open a one-point game and put the Pirates up, 15-8, with just under eight minutes played.
The top freshman in the BIG EAST in terms of 3-point percentage last season, Sina finished with three trifectas, his fifth career game reaching that mark.
Mercer pulled back to within two with seven of the next nine points and after a second-chance layup by Gibbs broke up the stretch, three different Bears combined to tally seven unanswered points with a bucket from Jibri Bryan gave the visitors a 22-19 edge with 7:28 remaining before the break.
Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) got to the rim for a layup late in the shot clock on the Pirates' next possession, igniting a run of 13-straight points for The Hall that spanned over five minutes. Isaiah Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) moved Seton Hall back out in front with his first career basket and the fastbreak conversion put SHU ahead for good.
Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) followed with two impressive stick-backs through contact that helped build a 32-22 advantage.
A put-back by TJ Hallice broke a scoreless streak of over six minutes for Mercer but on the final possession of the half, Gibbs found Haralds Karlis (Riga, Latvia) in the right corner for a 3-pointer that pushed the gap back to 11 heading into the locker room.
The triple was the fourth of the period for the Pirates as opposed to just one for the Bears who went 1-for-9 from beyond the arc and recorded just three field goals from outside the paint in the first 20 minutes.
Delgado provided a boost for The Hall down low, finishing with eight points and a game-high 12 boards, five of which came on the offensive end. SHU also turned the ball over just nine times while forcing 18 which led to a 16-to-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Ike Nwamu shot 8-of-13 to finish with a game-high 20 points for Mercer (1-1). Seton Hall will travel outside of the mainland for its next three contests as the Pirates are part of the eight-team field at the 2014 Ezybonds Global Payments U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. The Hall will open the tournament on Friday, November 21 against Nevada out of the Mountain West Conference. Start-time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on the east coast and a live national telecast will be shown on the CBS Sports Network which will carry all six games in the championship bracket at the event.
A radio broadcast featuring the Seton Hall team of Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin can be heard on 970AM (WNYM) for the opener as well as the Pirate Sports Network on SHUPirates.com.
