Seton Hall
Unsafe playing conditions suspend Seton Hall-Providence, force Thursday afternoon finish
Date: February 21, 2018By: Christopher Famularo
The Seton Hall men's basketball team took on the Providence Friars for the second time this season on Wednesday night, but will have to wait another day to see it through to the end.
Wet floor conditions at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. led to an unsafe playing surface leading the game’s three officials to suspend the contest until noon on Thursday with Seton Hall leading 56-47 with 13:03 remaining in the game.
Multiple players slipped on the floor throughout the duration of the now-suspended game, including a scary incident where Desi Rodriguez slipped on a wet spot in front of the Providence bench. Rodriguez was helped off the court and wouldn’t return. A team spokesman said that Rodriguez was diagnosed with a mild ankle sprain.
At the 13:03 mark of the second half the officials stopped play after both Providence’s Rodney Bullock and the Pirates’ Myles Powell took spills, from nearly identical places on the floor, split seconds apart in front of the Seton Hall bench. The officials at that point had seen enough, calling both coaches together and suspending play.
Prior to all of this, the game opened up fast with quick points from Rodriguez then immediately followed by a Providence scoring effort lead by Alpha Diallo. Providence held the lead over the Pirates for about 10 minutes until Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado started a 10-2 run to give them the lead. The Hall concluded the first half up 39-34. Carrington lead the half with 11 points and even after missing the last few minutes Rodriguez had 9 points.
After the break, Powell came out shooting red hot dropping two immediate threes from beyond the arc. He doubled his first half score within minutes and Delgado was able nab 11 points.
Action is set to resume on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. from a new location, Alumni Hall, where all scores, statistics, and time on the clock will remain the same for resumption of the game. If Seton Hall is able to hold on to its lead, currently standing at nine points, they will move into a three-way tie for fourth with Providence and Creighton, holding a tie-breaker over Providence. A win would also guarantee Seton Hall a finish in the conference standings of no lower than eighth.
Coverage of the conclusion of this game will begin at 11:50 a.m. on 89.5 WSOU FM, wsou.net and the iHeartRadio app.
Christopher Famularo can be reached at christopher.famularo@student.shu.edu
