Everyone knew that Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham would get theirs – but I can’t imagine that anyone expected that they’d be all Villanova needed.

In a high-flying affair that took an extra five minutes to settle, the Wildcats escaped the Prudential Center with an 89-85 win over Seton Hall Tuesday night.

Reynolds dropped an astounding 40 points on the Pirates, and Cunningham kicked in another 21. Reggie Redding added 10, but was more notable for his near lockdown defense on Jeremy Hazell in the waning minutes of the game.

Hazell had 26 points, but nearly all of them came in the first half, which ended with the Pirates leading by two. He did hit a ridiculous bank shot three point bucket to tie the game with nine seconds remaining, but was largely a ghost after the break.

Robert Mitchell, who has largely been the second leading offensive force after Hazell, pulled a disappearing act of his own, going MIA until the final few minutes. His 13 points and nine boards look good on paper, but he was a non-factor for most of the contest.

Eugene Harvey had 19, but twice went down with apparently knee related issues. He finished the game.

The loss is one that the Hall will have little time to regret with Notre Dame and UCONN next the schedule. The Pirates will need a huge upset to avoid an 0-5 start in the conference.

Before I go, some food for thought from the game: Walk on Matt Cajuste was the Pirates first big man off the bench – not Mike Davis (who’s still on pace to match last year’s crowning achievement: more fouls than shots attempted).

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

A couple quick things as I take a momentary break from the final exams that have been breaking my back this week…

The tight wins over Cal Baptist and St. Peter’s (and I consider 12 and 14 points tight against an NAIA team and a MAAC team anyday) were good wake up calls for the Hall last week. IUPUI and James Madison, two of the tougher non-conference, non-tournament games that Bobby Gonzalez scheduled are coming up next.

IUPUI is a legit program that has a player sometimes starting for the Spurs, so the Pirates will want to look out on Saturday. A game like they played in Jersey City WILL be a loss, no questions asked.

Meanwhile, Fox Sports is reporting that JC recruit Cliff Dixon has “unverbaled,” leaving the Hall again without a recruit for next season.

I’ll have word on Keon Lawrence when I get it.

That’s all for now.

-Skip

24 hours later, I still have no idea what to make of the Cal Baptist Lancers.

They were ranked No. 1 for awhile in the NAIA, but lost to the league’s No. 18 over the weekend. None of the players, conferences or even schools in the NAIA ring any bells, which is going to lead me to believe that not many folks have scouting reports on these kids.

I can tell you that they rely on three players to do most of their heavy lifting, however. Seniors Omar Krayem and Mark Roussin average 18.2 and 17.8 points a game, respectively, while sophomore Davey Hopkins chips in 14. Yes, his name is Davey.

The Lancers have okay depth on the bench, including a 6-foot-three-inch FORWARD (that’s what he’s listed as, anyway) that averages just over 10 points a game.

Regardless, tonight’s matchup should be a runaway win for the Pirates. The Lancers have no real size outside of Roussin, which will allow John Garcia, Robert Mitchell and maybe even Mike Davis dominate the small Cal Baptist team. I could see Garcia popping for 20-plus points and 15-plus rebounds easy, if they even need him on the floor that long.

Cal Baptist is a great team for their league, but shouldn’t be butting heads with a Big East school, especially right before getting into their own conference schedule. Cal Baptist seems to know this, though, and officially list the game as an exhibition.

If anything I’d say that gives them a few points… they have legitimately nothing to lose in this game, and can play without any regrets. Seton Hall, meanwhile, would be torn to pieces if they lose.

I’m still calling a massive win for the Pirates, though I could see Cal Baptist giving them a good 15 minutes.

If you need somewhere to listen to the game tonight, check out www.wsou.net, where the call’s free.

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

The Pirates got up big Tuesday night, and never looked back. The thumping of Monmouth was a resounding one – especially when you consider the fact that last year the Hall had to take the Hawks overtime before securing the victory.

Jeremy Hazell continues to dazzle. He dropped 32 points and had a ridiculous one-handed throw down off a pass from Eugene Harvey that was one of the few things that seemed to inspire a rather small and dour fandom on Tuesday.

Hazell is still flopping an awful lot, though. Yes, every now and then he does get hit with a legit foul – but the kid continues to hit the hardwood when no one is even near him. I’ve seen him fall into people, chairs and anything else that gets in his way. Short of that, though, he’s been astounding.

Robert Mitchell, though his 23 points may say different, still seems lost. He took 21 shots, which should never happen again and only knocked down seven. He chucked up eight threes, most of which were ugly. Mitchell is undersized at the No. 4 spot, yes, but against smaller non-conference foes like Monmouth he’s not at much of a disadvantage, and needs to get inside far more often.

The rest of the crew did their usual, and John Garcia (with 16 minutes) was finally able to get a break courtesy of the blowout. Brandon Walters and Mike Davis were relatively inconsequential off the bench, but that’s something fans are getting used to.

Regardless, the win is something to take to heart, especially since the Hall won’t play another semi-decent opponent until IUPUI or JMU. Cal Baptist, the NAIA “powerhouse” comes next Tuesday, and then it’s St. Peters at the Jersey City Armory. That 11-1 non-conference schedule is certainly looking attainable.

In other news, MSG is reporting that Melvyn Oliver has been cleared to practice. More on that as it develops.

Until later,
-Skip

If you’ve been living under a rock, you may have missed the latest chapter in the Bobby Gonzalez saga – the one where he allegedly starts a controversy with one of the more respected college hoops reporters in the region.

I’m not going to get too deep into this one – I’m just not close enough to the situation. However, for the full scoop, go ahead and check out Adam Zagoria’s column on SNY right here.

It’s a shame that this comes after what wound up being a great game for the Hall. Jeremy Hazell stayed hot, John Garcia and Eugene Harvey both had double-doubles, and big Mike Davis actually still had a foul to give at the end of the game. It leaves the Hall at 2-0 entering their trip to Puerto Rico next weekend, which I’ll talk about more as it gets closer.

Meanwhile, the Pirate women are also 2-0, coming off resounding wins against Rider and Caldwell College (yeah, I know).

That’s all for now folks.

-Skip

After a scary first 10 minutes, the Pirate prevailed last night, whooping the St. Francis Terriers 88-61.

Jeremy Hazell looked great with his 23 points; Robert Mitchell added 17 (but still looked like he was talking some trash, which is kind of disconcerting. You’re playing St. Francis!); and walk on Peter Peregrin brought the crowd to its feet on three separate occasions.

Peregrin, one of the four walk on players that the Pirates announced just hours before the game, donned a nameless No. 4 jersey, but was given a shot in the final five minutes, ultimately draining two free throws to get his first collegiate points. Paul Gause desperately appealed to the crowd both when Peregrin came in and when he went to the line, a great gesture that the fans happily responded to.

Meanwhile, Eugene Harvey and Jordan Theodore had pretty identical lines – though, in my mind, Theodore still seems more confident in running an actual offense. I think he should get every opportunity to run the point during this out of conference stretch.

Mike Davis picked up 13 points and had a few moments, but still fouled out in 17 minutes. For that matter, both Gause and Mitchell spent the latter half of the game in foul trouble. That’s worrying, because the Pirates aren’t always going to be able to set their defense to ‘coast’ and let players with four fouls stay on the floor for so long. We could see walk on players stepping in during tight games if that stuff continues, which isn’t exactly ideal (no offense, guys).

Speaking of the walk on recruits, the other three are: 6-foot-7-inch forward Matt Cajuste, 6-foot-7-inch Jason Simmons and 5-foot-9-inch Darnell Gatling. Simmons is the only one of the four with any collegiate experience, having spent time at Alaska-Fairbanks. All four players have New York or New Jersey backgrounds.

Simmons has DII experience, and Cajuste had opportunities coming out of school, making Gatling and Peregrin the real crowd-pleasers of the walk on class.

Peregrin was reportedly only cleared to play an hour or so before St. Francis, so it’s unknown whether or not tomorrow’s game will be the first for Cajuste, Gatling and Simmons.

I’ll have more on that tomorrow, when the Pirates host Columbia at 1 p.m.

-Skip

We’re tipping off in just under a day, so I figured I’d sign on and throw a few of my keys to the weekend out there. Neither St. Francis nor Columbia should present any kind of threat (or so the Pirates hope), but I’m still thinking the Lions could make things interesting on Sunday.

Regardless, the keys remain the same:

1.    Attack the basket, over and over again- Outside of Jeremy Hazell, I still see no real three-point threat on the Pirates’ roster, so they should just do what Bobby Gonzalez loves and run, run, run. The Hall is simply faster, and there’s no need to let Terriers or Lions slow things down.
2.    Get Robert Mitchell involved on the inside- Mitchell is going to be relied on as the power forward for this team, and he didn’t look like it against Molloy. Get him inside often, and find out if he’s going to be able to do what the team needs him to.
3.    Get up big and work in the subs- There’s no need to force things if the Pirates get a good lead going – lets face it, this team can’t afford to lose someone in a blowout. Plus, this team needs to know if Mike Davis – who embarrassed himself by fouling out in just 14 inconsequential minutes last Friday – and Brandon Walters can ball well enough to get this team through the non-conference schedule. It’s their sophomore year, so more is to be expected of them.

The third key is particularly important, since Robert Mitchell will be missing two games in Puerto Rico. Gonzalez will need to know which of Walters and Davis will be able to start in Mitchell’s place.

Either way, it’ll be an interesting weekend. Stay tuned for more from me, and get ready for the action.

-Skip