Box Score
NEWARK, N.J. – Fuquan Edwin scored a game-high 19 points to lead BIG EAST Conference member Seton Hall University to a 79-61 non-conference men's basketball decision past Longwood University on Wednesday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Redshirt-sophomore
Jeylani Dublin|Brooklyn, New York led the visiting Lancers (3-9) with 13 points. The host Pirates (9-2) made 10 three-pointers in the contest and also got 13 points from reserve Brian Oliver. Longwood will play again on Friday night, December 21, at VCU of the Atlantic 10 Conference at the Siegel Center in Richmond at 7:30 p.m.
Longwood scored the first basket of the game on a jumper by Dublin at 19:07, and the Lancers led 4-3 after a layup from freshman
Nik Brown|Ashburn at 18:05. Longwood was within 8-7 at 15:39 following a three-point field goal by junior
Tristan Carey|Colonial Beach, and it was a three-point game at 19-16 with 10:28 left until halftime after a three-pointer from junior
David Robinson|Chesterfield. Seton Hall, however, closed out the first half in convincing fashion with a 27-9 run to lead 46-25 at the intermission. Edwin had 12 first-half points to lead the Pirates, who made seven three-pointers, while Dublin scored six during the opening period for LU.
Seton Hall extended its lead to 58-30 at 16:25 as Edwin scored five quick points, including another three-pointer. At that point, Longwood 10th-year head coach Mike Gillian removed his starters from the game while not pleased with the early second-half effort. The Pirates took their largest lead of the game at 70-37 with 10:47 remaining before the starting Lancers returned to the game at 10:09 after watching the reserves play hard for 5:59. With a renewed energy and effort, Longwood outscored Seton Hall 24-9 over the final 9:52 to provide for the final 18-point margin; very respectable when considering the Lancers had previously dropped three games this season to high-profile opponents (Arkansas, 112-63; No. 12 Creighton, 105-57; and No. 21 Georgetown, 89-53) by an average margin of 44 points.
“On offense we are doing a better job taking care of the ball, which naturally leads to more shot attempts,” said Gillian. “With that, we can begin to operate more efficiently on offense and maximize what we get out of each possession. On defense, we still need to generate more energy and enthusiasm to get stops, regardless of what the strengths of the other team are. All in all, we are learning an awful lot about what makes teams that play at a high level successful - and need to do the same more often ourselves.”
Dublin led Longwood with his 13 points, adding seven rebounds. Robinson had 10 points for the Lancers. Carey and freshman
Karl Ziegler|Annandale, off the bench, each finished with seven points, while freshman
Michael Kessens|Nyon, Switzerland had a game-high nine rebounds while scoring four points. Junior
Mark Parker|Clayton, N.C. added six points off the bench on two three-pointers. LU shot 36.8% (21-57) from the field, including 42.1% (8-19) on three-pointers, and 61.1% (11-18) at the free throw line. The Lancers also had a season-low 13 turnovers, including only five in the second half while outscoring the Pirates 36-33.
Edwin led Seton Hall with his game-high 19 points (7-10 FG, 3-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) in just 18 minutes. Oliver had 13 points off the bench for the Pirates. Kevin Johnson finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. SHU shot 49.1% (27-55) from the field, including 40.0% (10-25) on three-pointers, and 75.0% (15-20) at the line.
Longwood and Seton Hall were meeting for the third time in three seasons, and the Pirates lead the series, 3-0.
Longwood is in the midst of a seven-day, three-game road trip this week to play non-conference contests at Canisius in Buffalo, New York on Monday, at Seton Hall tonight and at VCU Friday night. The Lancers are traveling via Charter Bus this week and will accumulate over 1,300 miles and more than 24 hours of 'bus-time' on this trip.
