Seton Hall men’s basketball has gotten away with wins despite poor 3-point shooting already this season—but just 1-for-11 (9%) against a top-20 team in the nation just won’t cut it (no offense, Georgetown).
Hosting No. 18 St. John’s (STJ) at the Prudential Center on Friday night in their regular-season finale—and final chance at a NCAA Tournament resume-boosting signature win—the Pirates (20-11, 10-10 BIG EAST) fell 72-65 to the Red Storm (25-6, 18-2 BIG EAST), who clinched at least a share of the BIG EAST regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden with the win.
Frustrating it was for Pirate Nation to watch The Hall suffer yet another poor shooting night, not just from 3-point range, but across all distances (41.1% from the field, 66.7% from the line)—but even more frustrating was that it coincided with the opportunity that Ejiofor gifted SHU in the second half.
After picking up two personal fouls in the first half, STJ still taking a 30-27 halftime lead, Ejiofor was called for his third of the game just three minutes into the second.
Ejiofor was on the bench for the next eight minutes—during which SHU was never able to take the lead from the Johnnies, which grew to as much as nine after STJ’s third 3-pointer in the half’s first five minutes gave them a 44-35 lead at 15:13.
The Pirates did, however, go on a 8-0 run minutes later that cut the deficit back down to just one-point, senior guard / forward Jacob Dar hitting a free-throw at 13:29 to make it 44-43, STJ still leading, with 13:29 left.
But once Ejiofor returned to the game shortly after, everything went downhill from there. What ensued was a nearly four-minute 12-2 run, Ejiofor contributing four points with back-to-back layups, that gave The Red Storm their largest lead of the night as STJ started to pull away with a 62-51 advantage and just 4:07 left.
But if “Second Half Seton Hall” has proved anything this season, it's to never count them out. Minutes later, graduate guard AJ Staton-McCray forced a STJ turnover then hit SHU’s one and only 3-pointer of the game with just 47 seconds left to cap off a 9-2 run that brought the Pirates within three points, SHU trailing 66-63, with just 47 seconds left.
But it was no dice, as Ejiofor and The Red Storm were able to ice the game from the line, earning a 72-65 win for their 25th of the season, while the Pirates ended with 20 themselves.
Despite his limited minutes due to foul trouble, STJ were led by an efficient 21-point performance (8-for-12 FG, also 5-for-6 FT) Ejiofor, who is likely to be named the BIG EAST Player of the Year on Sunday.
Meanwhile, The Hall were led by 15 points from junior guard Adam “Budd” Clark, who shot 5-for-10 (50%) from the field and 5-for-6 (83.3%) from the line. Head coach Shaheenh Holloway said that Clark, as well as freshman forward Najai Hines, were not even supposed to play after injuring their left quad and ankle, respectively, in the previous game at Xavier on March 3—but both insisted on playing right before tip-off nonetheless.
“Those are the type of players you want on your team, both of those guys,” Holloway said. “Both those guys didn’t do anything for two days, and to come out here and play the way they both played: they both gave us a lot of energy and everything they had to try to win this game”
Hines followed Clark with 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field to go with five rebounds, three on the offensive glass. Staton-McCray, one of six players honored as part of SHU’s Senior Night ceremony, also finished with 11 points, although on just 4-for-17 (23.5%) shooting.
With the loss, SHU is no longer in play for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament—meaning if the Pirates want to play in the Big Dance, they must win the BIG EAST Tournament first.
But this is on brand for The Hall this season, as Holloway acknowledged postgame.
“We can play with anyone, we just gotta finish games out or do the little things,” Holloway said. “It’s funny, this team doesn’t like to do things easy, they like doing things the hard way, so now we have to go to New York and earn it, and take it.”
Holloway also reflected on the regular season, expressing his disappointment in the Pirates not getting done for the team’s seniors, but how proud he is of his team’s effort and ability to block out the outside noise all year long.
“I just want to say, I feel awful for the seniors, because I always want them to win on Senior Night, it’s a big thing for me,” Holloway said. “But I think all our fans should be encouraged. I mean, this team gave them everything they had. Everything, everything. They played their tails off, their butts off, everybody wrote us off and this team just continued to keep battling, battling, and I think that’s a great sign for us.”
“So I’m pleased about the way this team carried themselves this year,” Holloway added. “And I’m looking forward to next week.”
Holloway and the Pirates will return next week, when they face either No. 5 Creighton or DePaul on Thursday, March 12 at Madison Square Garden in the quarterfinal round of the BIG EAST Tournament.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
