Seton Hall University
Fairleigh Dickinson
Balanced Effort Carries Hall to 90-68 Win Over FDU
11/10/2017 8:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Desi Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a game-high 17 points and teammate Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) continued his double-double dominance as the No. 23 Seton Hall men's basketball team downed Fairleigh Dickinson, 90-68, in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday.
In all, four Pirates reached double-figures in scoring in a balanced effort that saw none of the five Seton Hall starters play more than 23 minutes.
Rodriguez had 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers. Delgado recorded his NCAA-leading 51st career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshmen Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.), Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Jordan Walker (Port Washington, N.Y.) all made impressive debuts for the Pirates. Cale finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Mamukelashvili had eight points and six rebounds, while Walker tallied seven points, including a pair of three-pointers.
Turning Point:
The Pirates got off to slow start, but turned up the defense after the first media timeout. Trailing 12-7, The Hall went on a 7-0 run, aided by a trio of Knight turnovers, to take a 14-12 advantage with 12:27 left to play in the first half. Fairleigh Dickinson temporarily jumped back ahead, 15-14, but the Pirates took the lead for good with another 17-2 spurt, spurred by eight straight Rodriguez points, including the and-one at 10:26. A free throw by Ismael Sanogo (Newark, N.J.) capped the run, and put The Hall on top, 31-17, with 8:11 to go before halftime.
Fairleigh Dickinson cut the Pirate lead to 38-26, but Seton Hall took off again, outscoring the Knights 9-2 over the final 3:25 of the first half to take a commanding 47-28 advantage into the break.
In the second half, the Knights cut the Pirate lead to 15 points, 55-40 with 14:36 to go, but The Hall responded with a 20-5 run over the next 5:35. A three-pointer by Cale capped the run, and put the game out of reach, 75-45. Cale had seven of his 12 points during the run alone.
Inside the Numbers:
- Seton Hall shot 50.0% (33-for-66), while Fairleigh Dickinson fired at 42.9% (24-for-56). The Pirates shot 65.2% (15-for-23) from the charity stripe, while the Knights shot 62.5% (10-for-16). The teams were almost identical from three-point range, with the Pirates connecting on 10-of-24 shots, while the Knights were 9-for-24.
- The Pirates dominated in the paint, outscoring the Knights, 46-24. They also out-rebounded the Knights, 44-27, and used 18 offensive rebounds to generate 20 second chance points.
- All 12 Pirates who appeared in the game collected at least one board.
- Rodriguez, who led the Pirates in scoring during BIG EAST play last year, posted a team-high 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
- Delgado, who had 27 double-doubles in 33 games last season, picked up right where he left off with his 51st career double-double. He entered the game as the NCAA's active leader in rebounds and double-doubles and is the only active 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound student-athlete in the Div. I.
- Sophomore Myles Powell (Trenton, N.J.) had 10 points, including two three-pointers.
- Senior Khadeen Carrington (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had eight points and a team-high six assists.
- Seton Hall forced 17 turnovers, while FDU forced 14.
- Freshmen Philip Flory (Oshkosh, Wis.) and Shavar Reynolds (Manchester, N.J.) also made their collegiate debuts for Seton Hall.
News & Notes:
- Seton Hall improves to 19-4 all-time against Fairleigh Dickinson.
- Prior to the game, Delgado was honored for being the 2016-17 NCAA rebounding champion.
- Head coach Kevin Willard is now a perfect 8-0 at Seton Hall in home openers.
- With 17 points tonight, Rodriguez passed Richie Dec into 35th place on Seton Hall's career scoring list and now has 1,132 points.
- The Pirates have now won 17 straight non-conference games at the Prudential Center and are 56-8 all-time in non-BIG EAST contests at The Rock.
- Seton Hall has now won seven straight games against teams from the State of New Jersey.
- The No. 23 Pirates improve to 143-48 all-time when nationally ranked.
Up Next:
No. 23 Seton Hall will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 12 when it hosts local rival Monmouth at Prudential Center. Game time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. FS1 and FOX Sports GO will carry the game with Dave Sims and Jim Spanarkel on the call. Gary Cohen and Dave Popkin will provide the radio broadcast on AM970 The Answer, simulcast on the Pirate Sports Network, available on SHUPirates.com and the SHU Pirates Mobile App. Tickets for the contest can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.
