Pirates Hang on in Fight vs Musketeers, 59-57

Published: Sunday, March 2, 2025

by Victor Lisboa

CINCINNATI, OH. - Unlike their previous matchup last month, a much closer and down to the wire game today saw the Seton Hall Pirates (21-8, 13-5) pick up a 59-57 win over the Xavier Musketeers (6-23, 1-17). Coming into this game, the Pirates were on a two-game winning streak against DePaul and St. John’s, after a tough loss against UConn the week prior.  

In their last matchup against the Musketeers, the Pirates tallied a big win at home with a final score of 72-47. Savannah Catalon had a double-double in that game, simultaneously setting a new record in steals with 11. In that game the Pirates forced 33 turnovers and scored 37 points off of them.  

Coming into this game, Xavier was 1-16 in conference play, and had lost 10 straight games. This matchup was a big one for determining seeding in the BIG EAST tournament, and the Pirates were able to prevail. 

The first two quarters saw low scoring; the Pirates only had 18 points and Musketeers had 24. At this point, Seton Hall were really struggling from the field, which helped Xavier keep close. The visitors shot 8-31 (26%) while Xavier was 10-24 (42%). Still, the Musketeers were sloppy with the ball from Seton Hall’s half court pressure. The Pirates had more shot opportunities but couldn’t just capitalize on them.  

In the second half, the Pirates were able to get into a rhythm, shooting 60% total for the half. Faith Masonius, who shot 1-8 in the first half, scored 11 points in the second half. Catalon had 10 points, and Kayden Lawson shot a perfect 4-4 and scored 12 points to spark the runs for the Pirates. The Hall capitalized from Xavier’s 15 turnovers, scoring on 19 of them. Converting defense into offense was key for Coach Bozzella’s Pirates.  

But Xavier was able to put up a better fight today than their last matchup with Seton Hall. They mainly capitalized off three-point shooting 8-21 (38%) compared to the Pirates 1-9 (11%).  

Yet once again the Pirates defense was too much for Xavier, as they were +23 in points off turnovers and were +9 in free throws in the game. Masonius and Yaya Lops’ free throws were able to secure the game, but MacKenzie Givens of Xavier missed a potential game-tying shot off of a block from Lops, making an exciting finish to the nail-biting game.  

The Pirates have now secured the third seed in the BIG EAST Tournament, and will wait to see if they play DePaul or Xavier this Saturday at 9:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena.  

Victor Lisboa can be reached at victor.lisboa@student.shu.edu. 

 

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