The Seton Hall Pirates (9-3) got an early Christmas present on the road as they secured a 78-74 victory against Maryland Basketball (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten)
Seton Hall came to play in this game. It showed on the defensive side of the ball early. After a traveling call on Maryland Basketball, the Pirates were able to use their zone defense to set the tone.
Myles Powell was the leader coming in and did not disappoint as he had seven of the teams first 14 points with under 15 minutes to go in the first half. He was someone who the Terps had to watch out for because he can score the ball very well and move without the ball to get open. After trailing by as much as 11, Maryland was able to cut the Pirates lead to 3 under six minutes left, 26-23 Pirates.
Maryland basketball abandoned the three-point shot as it wasn’t going down for them and gave it to Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith who were responsible for the Terps being within a point, 26-25 on a 20-10 run.
At the end of the half, Maryland basketball had a four-point 34-30 lead. Bruno Fernando was the high point man for the Terps with 13 points and six rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Points in the paint were what fueled Maryland’s 26-14 run giving them the lead. Leaving the jump shots alone allowed them to use their size and length inside to get back in the game.
As the second half got rolling, the Terps went away from going inside which led to the game going back and forth. It was tied 42 all under 15 minutes to go, and it could have gone either team’s way. The Terps started to pull away late in the second half with two three-point shots from Eric Ayala, and solid plays made by Fernando and Smith.
After all that, the Terps couldn’t hold the lead as the game was tied 62 with four minutes to play. The game games down to who was going to play there hardest the last four minutes of the game. Seton Hall was able to close the game out on free throws and get the win 78-74.
Last second three-point shots by Ayala and Anthony Cowan Jr. weren’t enough to make a comeback. The Pirates made 17-of-20 free throws in the second half, Powell put up 27 points and Myles Cale contributed 23 points and five assists in the win.