Be sure to check out my recap of the Princeton-Wagner game below, but there were four other games involving area teams yesterday, including three against Big East teams. St. Francis (NY) came oh so close to scoring the first major upset of the season, but fell 75-71 in overtime to Seton Hall last night. Read more about that game and the other three contests after the jump.
Seton Hall 75, St. Francis (NY) 71 OT
The Terriers almost pulled what would’ve been a shocking upset over the Big East’s Pirates on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Travis Nichols led the way with 25 points and 14 rebounds, but four players were in double-figures for SFU. Excellent defense helped keep St. Francis in the game the whole way, it held the Pirates to 0.89 points per possession. That was aided a lot by Seton Hall shooting a miserable 22-37 (59.5%) from the free throw line. Jordan Theodore shot 9-10 from the line and scored 25 points for SHU. A concern for Glenn Braica moving forward should be his team’s 23 turnovers, but the 45 rebounds and 32.5% OR% are certainly a something to build on.
Manhattan 62, NJIT 48
Neither offense played very well in this one. Isaiah Wilkerson went 10-14 from the field and scored 23 points for the Highlanders, but his teammates combined to shoot 8-34 (23.5%). They also turned the ball over 20 times against just eight assists. On the other side, George Beamon had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Roberto Colonette scored 11 and Donovan Kates 10. The Jaspers were just 2-20 (10%) from three-point range. Manhattan won by turning the ball over seven fewer times and grabbing six more offensive rebounds. That helped the Jaspers have a six shot advantage and a 31-14 advantage in free throws attempted. Until the threes start falling the Jaspers are going to have to rely on extra possessions to out work their opponents.
Providence 72, Fairleigh Dickinson 61
The Knights kept this game close much of the way before the Friars pulled away late at the Dunkin Donuts Center. Lonnie Hayes scored 26 points for FDU on 21 shots and 9-11 free throw shooting. He also played all 40 minutes. Kinu Rochford came on late and scored 15 points. The Knights’ offense was actually pretty respectable, average a point per possession, but they let Providence get too many easy shots (49% eFG%). This was Ed Cooley’s debut for the Friars, so obviously a win they wanted to get, and four players were in double-figures, including Gerard Coleman with 18.
#5 Syracuse 78, Fordham 53
This was a really tough opener for the Rams at the Carrier Dome. Chris Gaston scored 13 points, but he was neutralized a bit on the boards a bit grabbing just five. Bryan Smith scored 13 points on 11 shots, including 3-8 three-point shooting. Syracuse was led by Kris Joseph, who scored 16 points, and Dion Walters, who added 14. One bright spot for Fordham is that the Rams went to the free throw line 21 times. But they shot just 13-21 (62%). I’m sure that will be a point of emphasis before the game against Binghamton on Friday.
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