DEFENSE LEADS PIRATES PAST CREIGHTON, 63-58

NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.)scored a team-high 22 points, including his team's last nine, as the Seton Hall men's basketball team defeated Creighton, 63-58, in a defensive battle at the Prudential Center on Saturday. The Pirates defense ultimately won out as they kept Creighton without a field goal over the final 4:35 of the contest. For the game, The Hall held the Bluejays to just 30.3 percent (20-for-66) shooting from the floor, a season-low for a Seton Hall opponent. Powell scored 22 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) was the lone other Pirate to reach double-figures in scoring. He finished with 14 points to go with three assists, despite picking up his fourth foul with 16:23 still to play. In the wild and crazy 2019 version of the BIG EAST, the Pirates now find themselves in a five-way tie for third place at 5-6 alongside Butler, DePaul, Georgetown and St. John's.

S Turning Point: Trailing 54-48, the Pirates scored four straight, and Powell's floater cut Creighton's lead to 54-52 with just 2:47 to play. After the teams exchanged a pair of free-throws, Powell was fouled while shooting a three, and proceeded to make all three free-throws to give The Hall a 57-56 lead with 1:48 left. Following two more Creighton free-throws, Powell scored in the paint to swing the advantage back to Seton Hall, 59-58, with 1:14 to go. After a strong Seton Hall defensive stand, Powell was fouled with 10.7 seconds left and calmly sank both freebies to extend the lead to three. Two more free-throws by Powell with five seconds left iced the contest. Seton Hall kept up its defensive pressure to begin the second half. The Pirates unleashed a 10-0 run out of the break, and Michael Nzei's (Makurdi Nigeria) second-chance put-back with 15:31 left to play gave The Hall a commanding 41-29 lead. Creighton however, bounced back with an 10-0 run of their own, holding The Hall scoreless for 4:29 to cut their deficit to 41-39 with just over 12 minutes left to play. The run stretched to 22-5 when Creighton's Christian Bishop scored inside to put the Bluejays on top, 51-46, with 7:04 left in regulation. The Pirates' offense got off to a hot start to begin the game. A three-pointer by Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) provided the first points of the game and helped launch a 14-5 game-opening burst for The Hall. Creighton responded however with a 10-0 run, holding the Pirates scoreless for 5:23 and forcing five turnovers during the span. A jumper by Connor Cashaw capped the run and gave The Bluejays a 15-14 with 10:27 left before halftime. After several minutes of solid defense on both ends of the floor, Powell completed a four-point play, getting fouled on a successful double-clutched three-point attempt. Powell's effort gave The Hall its largest lead of the half, 23-18, with 5:38 left before the break. Trailing 28-24, the Bluejays scored five straight points to retake the lead, but a three-pointer by Jared Rhoden (Baldwin, N.Y.) with 1:32 left in the opening stanza provided Seton Hall with a 31-29 halftime advantage.