Seton Hall
Powell leads Pirates to 89-49 victory over Wagner
Date: November 6, 2018By Christopher Russo
The Pirates opened their season with a bang on Tuesday by beating the Wagner Seahawks 89-49.
Myles Powell proved that he is the leader of this team both on and off the court. The junior totaled a career-high 30 points on the night, and passed Isaiah Whitehead on the Pirates’ career scoring list. Yet, Kevin Willard said of him, “I didn’t even think he played good.”
Both Powell and Willard addressed the impact that Shavar Reynolds had on Powell when guarding him in practice. Willard said he liked what he saw of Reynolds, who had seven points in 16 minutes on Tuesday, and said he is not “a charity case”. Willard said that Reynolds “earned his scholarship.”
Powell was by far the Pirates’ leading scorer, though Michael Nzei may have surprised some by finishing second with 11 points. Nzei shot five for six from the field with seven rebounds in 24 minutes. Like Powell, Nzei had to address the absence of last year’s graduating seniors. The fifth-year Pirate said that it was not weird to be without his former teammates during play, though he mentioned he had a flashback before the game about being with his teammates, particularly his former roommate Delgado. Nzei finished by saying, “they’re not here, so we just have to move on.”
The Pirates were very strong defensively, limiting the Seahawks to under 50 points, and received contributions from multiple players, particularly Sandro Mamukelashvili and Romaro Gill. Mamukelashvili had five rebounds, and recorded the game’s best plus-minus total with 32. Though Gill only played seven minutes, he made a signature moment with a thunderous second-half block that dropped even the jaws in the press box.
The Pirates next face New Haven at Walsh Gymnasium on Friday at 3PM.
Chris Russo can be reached at christopher.russo@student.shu.edu.
