Seton Hall
Seton Hall Holds on for Victory over Xavier
Date: February 3, 2018
(Photo: SHU Athletics
By: Chris Schweitzer
After trailing most of the second half, Seton Hall used a strong 4th quarter push to defeat Xavier by a score of 58-53. After beating the Musketeers, Seton Hall improved to 14-9 on the season and 6-6 in Big East play.
The first quarter was very back and forth with neither team able to get a strong grip on the game. There were four lead changes in the first quarter, and at the end of period of play Xavier had the lead by a score of 12-11. Despite trailing after the first quarter, Seton Hall was leading Xavier in rebounds and forced turnovers.
The second quarter started well for the Pirates as Inja Butina scored and gave Seton Hall the lead after only 25 seconds. The Pirates would go on to dominate the rest of the second quarter as they would hold the lead until halftime. Seton Hall's dominant performance was mostly due to Inja Butina's strong performance. Butina had eight points in the quarter and went into halftime with 11 total points.
The third quarter didn't go well for Seton Hall as JaQuan Jackson made a free throw with nine minutes left in the third quarter and the Pirates would go scoreless for the next six minutes. Xavier would score fourteen unanswered points over that scoring drought for the Pirates. Jackson scored the next points for Seton Hall with three minutes left in the third quarter. Even after Seton Hall struggled for much of the third quarter they managed to go into the fourth only down by one. Seton Hall trailed 43-42 after three quarters of play.
A Jackson jumper got Seton Hall to within three points with seven minutes left to play, but both teams would fail to score over the next four minutes. After a foul and technical after the whistle the Pirates were able to shoot four consecutive free throws as Inja Butina stepped up and made them all. After Xavier tied the game at 52 with three minutes left, Kaela Hilaire would give the Pirates a lead with 1:30 left. A turnover on the next possession and a layup from Shadeen Samuels would ice the game for the Pirates and get them the victory.
"We played press and that irritated them, which lead to some big steals," Butina said about the Pirate defense.
Butina finished the game leading all scorers with 17 points and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Shadeen Samuels also had a strong performance with 10 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
"That was one of our best grinding out victories in many years here," Head Coach Tony Bozzella said after the game.
Seton Hall next plays on Sunday, February 4th at 1 p.m. as they take on Butler in Walsh Gymnasium. Tune into wsou.net for live coverage of the game.
Chris Schweitzer can be reached at christopher.schweitzer@student.shu.edu.
