The men's basketball team failed to comeback from a 16-point second half deficit, despite having several opportunities to take the lead or tie the game in the final minutes of the game against St. John's University. The Pirates fell 71-67.
After surging back to come within two points at 61-59, Pirate guard Aaron Cosby missed a wide open 3-pointer with 3:54 remaining.
Junior guard Fuquan Edwin also had a chance at a wide open three, but missed with the score at 61-59 in favor of the Red Storm.
After sophomore guard D'Angelo Harrison extended the Red Storm lead with a mid-range jumper, Edwin went to the line for a one-and-one opportunity for a chance to make it a one-possession game. He missed the front end and St. John's ran away with the game.
Harrison scored 11 of the Red Storm's last 13 points, which happened to be his only points of the half. He finished with a game-high 24 points, including 9-10 from the charity stripe. He hit the same amount of free throws that Seton Hall hit as a team in the game. They were 9-14.
"It's tough," Edwin said. "We had two open opportunities. It was too open."
Head coach Kevin Willard echoed Edwin's statement and expressed how pivotal the missed front end of the one-and-one was.
"We had two wide open three's though that we could have made," Willard said. "And we missed a front end of a one-and-one. You can't win close games missing a front end of a one-and-one and missing wide open shots."
Willard also said how big Harrison's play has been for St. John's this season.
"D'Angelo makes some real good tough shots," Pirates' head coach Kevin Willard said. "He's a big-time player."
Both teams started red hot, with each team hitting three of its first four shots. The Pirates (13-7, 2-5) started to pull away early, but St. John's "stormed" back with a 17-4 run to close the half that was highlighted by a Harrison 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.
The shot seemed to give the Red Storm momentum as they opened up with a 6-0 run to begin the second half. The team eventually built the lead to as much as 16 points with 15: 30 remaining in the half.
"It was a good effort by our guys," Willard said. "We have to come out in the second half and play a little better."
Junior center Eugene Teague pitched in with a team-high 22 points and five rebounds. Edwin struggled all game, shooting only 4-15 from the floor and 1-6 from beyond the arc.
Cosby scored seven points on 3-10 shooting and also dished out a game-high five assists.
The Pirates (13-7, 2-5 Big East) will look to bounce back at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Washington D.C. as they take on Georgetown University.
T.J. Brennan can be reached at Thomas.Brennan@student.shu.edu.
