Myles Cale stamped his authority on Seton Hall’s 73-62 exhibition win against New Haven on Friday, Nov. 9. The sophomore dropped 20 points on 7-10 shooting, adding eight rebounds and two assists.
Point guard duo Anthony Nelson and Quincy McKnight started together for the first time, part of the new rotations head coach Kevin Willard has been experimenting with. With both players on the floor, Nelson took the ball up the court and McKnight drifted into good positions off the ball, driving to the hoop often when he did find himself in possession.
Nelson contributed with eight points, five assists, and four rebounds in 33 minutes, while McKnight added two points and five assists.
Cale and Taurean Thompson set the tone on offense early, combining to score the Pirates’ first 15 points of the afternoon. Thompson flashed his ability to shoot from distance, adding another outside threat for the Hall going forward.
Romaro Gill added a strong inside presence inside off the bench, racking up nine points while towering over a New Haven team that did not feature much height in the frontcourt. The visitors were reluctant to shoot with the 7-foot-2 center commanding the defensive glass. Gill capped his productive day with an alley-oop slam with two minutes to play.
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Myles Cale had 20 points in Seton Hall's 73-62 exhibition victory over New Haven. Renee Nunez/Staff Photographer[/caption]
New Haven’s Elijah Bailey had the hot hand for the visitors early on, scoring 14 first-half points. The guard tainted his big half, however, by picking up a flagrant foul on Seton Hall’s Mike Nzei, who had to leave the game briefly. Nzei would return later in the half, and Bailey only scored one more point the rest of the game.
Bailey’s scoring streak helped New Haven stick around for most of the first half, until an 8-0 run highlighted by Sandro Mamukelashvili’s coast-to-coast drive put the Pirates up 29-19 with seven minutes to play in the half. Mamukelashvili finished with eight points in four rebounds.
The Hall ended the first half with a sequence of dunks from Thompson and Nzei, followed by a Myles Cale triple which brought the packed Walsh Gym crowd to its feet as the Pirates took a 40-25 advantage into the locker room.
Star guard Myles Powell made way for Nelson’s first start in a Seton Hall uniform, coming off the bench in the exhibition. Powell put the game out of reach midway through the second half with a deep three-pointer over a defender, pushing the lead to 20. The Pirates maintained control as they closed out the second half.
Seton Hall will travel to Lincoln next to take on Nebraska as part of the Gavitt Games on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Kyle Beck can be reached at kyle.beck1@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @notkylebeck.
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