Powell leaves with injury in Seton Hall's 74-57 win over Stony Brook

Date: November 9, 2019

By: Justin Morris

The Seton Hall men’s basketball team was able to shake off an early scare to a 74-57 victory over Stony Brook Saturday afternoon.

The scare was an injury to the left ankle of pre-season All-American Myles Powell, who left the game just over three minutes into the first half. Powell went up for a contested layup, and knew immediately that something was wrong upon landing, muttering a few words to himself before limping to the locker room. He would return to the sidelines a few minutes later with a bag full of ice and tape wrapped around the injured ankle, an obvious sign that he would be ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The injury would later be ruled a left ankle sprain, a critical loss for the Pirates as the season’s beginning stages move forward. Without their star shooting guard, the Pirates looked scrambled, effected by what seemed to be initial shock surrounding the loss of their fallen leader. This was followed up by the looming question that had been a recurring theme of conversation since last year: who will step up in the event Powell is absent?

They were able to hold on to an early lead, spreading the ball around efficiently as they built a 16-7 advantage on a few scoring runs. That question reared its ugly head though as the half tore on, and Stony Brook eventually worked their way back into the game, with redshirt junior guard Makale Foreman shooting 3-3 from three-point range to lead the Seawolves on a 10-2 run, surmounting the Hall’s lead. Stony Brook wound up taking a two-point lead into the half, 33-31.

The Pirates shot a subpar 31% from the field in the first, and had a hard time finding their shooting stroke after Powell went down. A backdoor cut and dunk finish from Sandro Mamukelashvili as time expired in the half put some life back into the Pirate crowd though, and the Hall used that energy to get off to a 6-0 run to begin the second period.

Mamukelashvili would pace the Pirates scoring efforts in Powell’s place throughout the second, going 6/11 from the field and adding a pair of threes to add on to their lead. Romaro Gill posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Quincy McKnight found a hot hand in the second half as well, dropping in multiple clutch pull-up jumpers in crunch time for insurance points as the Pirates built double-digit advantage in the game’s closing minutes.

McKnight said after the game, “guys are definitely looking for me to score the ball (with Myles going down), they’re confident to give me the ball late in the shot clock.”

As for Powell, early reports are that he’ll at least be out for their next game against Michigan State. He’ll receive X-rays and further testing to determine his status going forward. The Pirates will meet the Spartans on Nov. 14, at the Prudential Center.

Justin Morris can be reached at justin.morris@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Men's Basketball