Field Level Media
Jan 22, 2022
Alexis Yetna dominated down low with a season-high 16 points and 15 rebounds to power visiting Seton Hall to a 66-60 victory over St. John's Saturday afternoon in New York.
Yetna's sixth double-double of the season and Myles Cale's game-high 21 points were crucial for Seton Hall (12-5, 3-4 Big East), whose top scorer, Jared Rhoden, shot 2 for 11 for six points and fouled out in the final minute.
Kadary Richmond had 10 points and eight assists for the Pirates, and Ike Obiagu added nine rebounds and seven blocks. Seton Hall tied the game at halftime on Tray Jackson's buzzer-beating 3-pointer and never trailed in the second half.
Aaron Wheeler led St. John's (10-7, 2-4) with 13 points. Wheeler blocked a shot by Richmond and made a dunk at the other end with 58 seconds left to cut the deficit to 60-56.
Dylan Addae-Wusu then stole Seton Hall's inbounds pass, but St. John's missed two short shots before Seton Hall drew a foul and went on to ice the game with free throws.
The Red Storm had a cold day from the floor, making just 22 of 75 (29.3 percent) of their shots, with their three best scorers -- Julian Champagnie, Posh Alexander and Addae-Wusu -- combining to shoot just 7 of 37. Alexander scored 10 points and Champagnie, who entered Saturday averaging 21.1 points per game, scored just nine. The Red Storm lost for the fourth time in their past five games.
The Pirates shot ahead in the second half, taking a 46-37 lead with 13:27 to play. St. John's then ripped off a quick seven points, capped by Champagnie's 3-pointer, to cut the margin to two.
St. John's trailed 57-52 with 4:15 to go, but Seton Hall made grittier plays to control possession down the stretch. Tyrese Samuel made a key block, and the Pirates got Joel Soriano to commit a lane violation.
The Red Storm scored the first eight points of the game before the Pirates responded with a 10-0 run of their own, with Samuel's layup giving Seton Hall its first lead of the day at 10-8.
St. John's led 28-25 and had possession in the final seconds of the first half, but the Pirates forced Alexander to lose the ball out of bounds with one second left. Jackson caught an inbounds pass and drained a game-tying 3 at the buzzer.
The rivals will run it back Monday at Seton Hall's on-campus Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J.
--Field Level Media