Powell and the Pirates Survive a Scare From St. John's 82-79

    Myles Powell scored 23 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and lead Big East leader Seton Hall to an 82-79 come from behind win over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Saturday

.

  “I’m not into moral victories”, St. John’s coach Mike Anderson said. “We lost a game at home and that’s gotta hurt but at the same time I thought our guys played against a very good opponent in Seton Hall and gave ourselves a chance.”

    For much of the game in fact, the Johnnies did much more than give themselves a chance. After trading baskets in the game’s opening moments, St. John’s went to work. Leading 28-27 following a Powell 3-pointer they closed the half on a 15-3 run. While LJ Figueroa scored 6 of his points during that stretch the rally was actually begun in earnest by terrific work from Josh Roberts who converted to rim running baskets first off a pass from Nick Rutherford and then on a fast break he started with a blocked shot and then finished with a great run and a great play fielding a tough pass from Rasheem Dunn for a terrific finish.  During that rally St. John’s pressure defense was also in full force and despite the Pirates’ experienced back court forced 15 first half turnovers and lead 43-30 at the intermission. A strong shooting start from both Figueroa and Mustapha Heron was complimented by what was easily Roberts’ best performance in conference play. He  finished with a career high 16 points and added 8 boards.

   The two teams traded baskets as the second half began as Roberts continued to be a forceful presence around the rim and some early pressure by Seton Hall helped loosen things up a bit for Myles Cale and Powell who scored his 2000^th career point on a steal and bucket early in the second half. The Hall’s improved second half offense included two long jumpers from Cale, one from the corner and one from the wing that were initially ruled 2-point baskets but changed to 3’s after video review. Pirates’ center Ramaro Gill who may be the Big East’s most improved player made his presence felt at the rim finishing with 14 points 13 boards and 6 blocked shots.

   The Pirates pulled to within 54-53 on a jumper by reserve guard Anthony Nelson with 12:41 remaining, tied matters at 56 moments later and took their first lead at 61-58 on a triple by Powell. The two teams traded leads for the next several minutes in a stretched that culminated in a hoop and harm three-point play by Powell that put the Pirates up by two followed by a quick aggressive drive by Dunn that tied the game again at 75. A Quincy McKnight free throw gave the Pirates the lead and then, following a St. John’s turnover Powell hit a driving layup to give them a 78-75 advantage. From there free throws by Cale and McKnight for the Hall and baskets by Dunn and Marcellus Earlington set the stage for a chance to tie the game at 82 for the Johnnies. But when Dunn lost the dribble off his foot, Earlington put up a desperation shot that fell harmlessly short.

Notes and Observations: The win gave Seton Hall the school’s first 6-0 start ever in Big East play. St. John’s dropped to 1-5 in the league and 12-7 overall.  The game honored the memory of Howard Garfinkel the late founder of the famed 5-Star Basketball Camps and High School Basketball Illustrated, which he published with co-founder Tom Konchalski until 1985 when he sold the publication to his long time partner, whom he recognized as perhaps the greatest evaluator of talent basketball has ever seen. Garf’s camps, with the help of coaches like Bobby Knight and Hubie Brown, pioneered many of the skill and team development techniques that are used by coaches around the world.