WSOU

Recap: No. 21 Seton Hall Comes Alive Late vs. Bethune-Cookman, 84-70

Date: November 28, 2021

By: Heaven Hill

Seton Hall's Alexis Yetna attempts a dunk during a home game against Bethune-Cookman.

Seton Hall Athletics

After a sluggish start in the first half, the Seton Hall men’s basketball team (5-1) responded coming out of halftime to secure a convincing win over Bethune-Cookman (1-6) 84-70 on Sunday.

Early on, Seton Hall went up 9-4, 19-11 and 27-19 over the Wildcats, but they could not pull away. Bethune-Cookman hung around and actually took a lead going into halftime, with a late layup from Marcus Garrett giving them a 34-33 lead into the break.

The Pirates dominated on the glass, winning the rebound battle 24-10 and secured 10 second chance points. However, Bethune-Cookman shot a scorching 53.6% from the field to Seton Hall’s 39.6%, as the shooting struggles continued for head coach Kevin Willard’s squad.

Once the second half started, it appeared as if the Pirates finally woke up out of their fog as they went on a 15-4 run to take a 48-38 lead. Defense to offense was the calling card, as a steal by Kadary Richmond led to a fast break layup, and a block from Ike Obiagu resulted in a three-pointer from Jamir Harris.

With five blocks on Sunday, Obiagu moved past former Pirates legends Romaro Gill and Eddie Griffin on the all-time list. Richmond also flirted with a triple-double and Harris chipped in three three-pointers off the bench for 11 points of his own.

Once again, Bethune-Cookman would not go away easily, as the Wildcats responded with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to three. Then, Jared Rhoden and Alexis Yetna scored the next 10 points for Seton Hall to push the lead back to 62-49.

Yetna finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his 19th career double-double and his first as a Pirate, while Rhoden finished with an efficient 18 points to continue his hot start to the season.

From there, the game was never in doubt. A layup from Tyrese Samuel, then three straight makes from behind the arc from Harris, Samuel and Rhoden ballooned the lead to 23 points for Seton Hall, which was the largest of the afternoon.

Late in the game, birthday boy Sylwester Granda found the scoresheet with a nifty layup to put a bow on this one.

The Pirates finally began to click offensively in the second half, scoring 51 points on 57.7% from the field. With 41 bench points and a +18 advantage in rebounding margin, Sunday’s game was a return to the dominant Seton Hall lineup from earlier in the season.

With this victory, Willard is also now three wins away from tying the legendary P.J. Carlesimo for second on the Pirates’ all-time wins list.

He’ll get a chance to move one step closer on Wednesday, as Seton Hall faces Wagner at the Prudential Center in the second game of this homestand. Make sure to tune into 89.5 FM WSOU for coverage of the matchup, starting at 6:45 p.m.

Heaven Hill is the Sports Director at 89.5 FM WSOU and can be reached at wsou.sports@gmail.com.

Posted in: Men's Basketball, Sports, WSOU

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