Jared Rhoden had 25 points and eight rebounds and made two key baskets down the stretch as host Seton Hall held off No. 25 Xavier 73-71 Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.
The Pirates (15-7, 6-6 Big East) have won three straight games. Alexis Yetna had 12 points and Kadary Richmond contributed eight rebounds and five assists for Seton Hall, which won despite making only three of six free throws in the final 18 seconds.
Jack Nunge scored 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting and Paul Scruggs had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Musketeers (16-7, 6-6), who rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to make things close.
Victory wasn’t secured for Seton Hall until Jamir Harris received an inbounds pass, was fouled and made one of two free throws with 1.9 seconds to go for the final margin. A desperation heave by Xavier was off the mark as time expired.
Prior to that, Scruggs made two free throws with 3.9 seconds left to pull Xavier within 72-71, even though he was trying to miss the second after Seton Hall had fouled on purpose to prevent a potential game-tying 3-point try.
Rhoden cut through the defense for a layup with 3:59 left to give the Pirates a 62-57 lead. Rhoden later hit a 3 to extend the hosts’ lead to 65-59 with 3:15 left.
Colby Jones made two free throws for the Musketeers to make it 69-67 with 19 seconds to go. Rhoden then made one of two foul shots with 18 seconds left to give the Pirates a 70-67 lead.
Jones missed an open 3-point attempt from the right corner with 12 seconds to go. Myles Cale grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made one of two foul shots. Scruggs’ uncontested layup cut the deficit to 71-69, and Rhoden then made one of two foul shots with 5.7 seconds left.
With 13:39 left in the game, Freemantle and Seton Hall’s Tray Jackson got tangled up going for a rebound. Jackson fell to the floor and Freemantle appeared to brush his sneaker on his head rather than avoiding his prone opponent. Officials intervened before the situation could escalate any further and eventually charged double fouls against Freemantle and Jackson.
Freemantle, who is from nearby Teaneck, N.J., was charged with two fouls and thus fouled out at that time with only four points.
Xavier trailed only 43-40 when Freemantle exited, but the Pirates quickly extended their lead to 55-45 with a 12-5 run that included five points by Rhoden.
–Field Level Media
