Game Preview: Seton Hall hosts Sacred Heart in battle of SHU's (12/19/18)

Date: December 18, 2018

By Christopher Schweitzer

 

The Seton Hall Pirates will be taking on the Sacred Heart University Pioneers in the first ever matchup between the two schools.

 

The Pirates are coming into the game with a three game win streak with two huge victories in a win over No. 9 Kentucky on December 8^th, and win in the Garden State Hardwood Classic over Rutgers on Saturday. The Pirates redeemed themselves after losing to the Scarlet Knights last season, and took down their rivals by a score of 72-66.

 

Myles Powell was again the star for Seton Hall with 28 points in 37 minutes, while Sandro Mamukelashvili broke out for 15 points and 9 rebounds while going 3-4 from behind the three point line. They were the only two double digit scorers for the Pirates, but not the only two to make an impact. Michael Nzei, and Myles Cale both grabbed 8 rebounds on the night, and Quincy McKnight racked up four assists for Seton Hall. The Pirates were great defensively, holding Rutgers to 31.6% shooting, and totaling eight blocked shots. Five of those blocks came from junior big man Romaro Gill, who only saw 12 minutes of action.

          

Sacred Heart comes into this game after a loss to Dartmouth on December 10^th, and having been losers of five of their last seven games. The Pioneers fell 82-73 to Dartmouth, thanks to a rough first half that saw them shoot 38% from the field and only score 27 points. Junior forward Jarel Spellman led the way for Sacred Heart against Dartmouth with 19 points and 8 rebounds, but senior guard Sean Hoehn has been the leader for the Pioneers this season. Hoehn leads the team in points per game with 19.3, and minutes per game with 32.8. He’s also second on the team with 3.1 assists per game on the season.

 

The two teams come into this matchup with very different seasons preceding it. The Pirates are 7-3 and have two huge victories in their last two games, while Sacred Heart is 4-6 and has struggled since mid-November.  

 

Listeners can catch all the action between the Pirates and the Pioneers on 89.5 FM WSOU. Frank Frasco and Tim Bonomo are on the call with Chris Russo and Keith Egan giving you the pregame and halftime coverage.

 

Christopher Schweitzer can be reached at christopher.schweitzer@student.shu.edu.

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