BOX SCORE (.html)

BOX SCORE (.pdf)

NEWARK, N.J. – Sophomore John Garcia (Brentwood, N.Y.) scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead the Seton Hall men’s basketball team to an, 85-75, win over St. Peter’s. The Pirates are now 7-1 on the season and are a perfect 4-0 at Prudential Center.

Senior Brian Laing (Bronx, N.Y.) netted 17 points, and has reached double-figures in scoring in seven of eight games this year. Freshman Jeremy Hazell (Bronx, N.Y.) had 13 points in his first career start.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle which saw the lead change hands 14 times. Seton Hall used an 8-2 run in the final 4:17 of the period to head into the break with a 35-31 advantage.

The Pirates maintained control in the early part of the second half, going up 61-51 after a Hazell three-pointer with 11:59 on the clock. Seton Hall surged ahead by as many as 16 points by going on an 11-2 run over a five-minute span to make it, 72-56.

St. Peter’s closed the gap to 72-65 after a pair of free-throws by Todd Sowell, but a Eugene Harvey (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drive led to an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Pirates ahead by 10 with 3:07 to go.

With less than a minute remaining, Wesley Jenkins drilled a trey to make it, 81-75, but Seton Hall went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe down the stretch to pick up the victory.

Sowell finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Peacocks (3-4). Raul Orta also had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Pirates full-court pressure caused 17 turnovers, leading to 21 points.

Seton Hall returns to action at Penn State on Saturday, December 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.