Game 1: Pirates 93 Knights 49
A Seton Hall Men's Basketball recap of the season opener vs Fairleigh Dickinson
The long awaited debut of the 2021-2022 Seton Hall Men’s Basketball team was a resounding success even with the Pirates’ star Jared Rhoden missing the game with an ankle injury. Despite it being a buy game against a smaller program in Fairleigh Dickinson there is a lot to take from this game given all the questions heading in.
First Half
It was a slow start to the first game of the season for The Hall as they didn’t take their first lead until a Myles Cale free throw made it 7-6 Pirates a little over six minutes into the game. The two squads exchanged baskets for a few minutes until Bryce Aiken made his mark on this game spurring the Pirates explosion making plays on both ends of the floor. His spark led to a 20-5 run over the final six and a half minutes of the first half where Seton Hall truly pulled away leading 40-20 at halftime over the Knights.
Second Half
Seton Hall did not take their foot off the gas coming out of the break starting the second frame with a 16-3 run which all but ended the game just almost seven minutes into the Second Half. The shots continued to fall for almost the entire team but this was especially true for newcomer Jamir Harris, longtime vet Myles Cale, and last but certainly not least Tyrese Samuel. The Pirates defense coiled around the Knights and constricted continuously allowing The Hall to really just pour it on to put a cap on this win.
Aftermath
As encouraged as one can be about a game vs Fairleigh Dickinson I think there were a lot of positives from this game. The eternal Myles Cale crossed the 1,000 career points threshold making him the 46th Pirate in the history of the program to accomplish that feat. Cale had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in a very solid performance. The junior Tyrese Samuel recorded his first double double of his career dropping 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to go along with 4 blocks off the bench. Bryce Aiken the first man off the bench for SHU was a walking bucket with 15 points including going 3-3 from downtown. The Hall’s team defense was a great strength as FDU shot 28.7% from the field including a ghastly 1-15 from 3PT range and the Knights also had 16 turnovers and 9 of their shots blocked by Seton Hall. This win was Kevin Willard’s 250th as a Head Coach and his 205th as the leader of The Hall. Seton Hall moved to 12-0 in home openers under Willard as well.
Up Next
The Seton Hall Pirates will take on Yale in the first game of the Ft. Myers Tip-Off at Prudential Center on Sunday at 12PM eastern on FS1. The Bulldogs are highly touted as Ivy League favorites this year and this should be a great test for the Pirates as they look to take the next step in coming together as a team.