Nov. 25, 2005

Box Score

MIAMI, Fla. - A 20-6 run to start the second frame helped the Seton Hall Pirates come away with a 64-53 win over American University in the first day of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic on Friday night.

Down by five to start the second half, Seton Hall used a 20-6 run to take their first lead since early in the first half and never looked back, defeating the Eagles by 11. With 14:19 to go, Seton Hall took a 35-34 lead and went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach for the Eagles. After being down by as much as 14, American closed the lead to six with just over two minutes left, but Seton Hall was stingy from the line hitting most of their shots to finish the game up by almost a dozen.

American held a five point lead going into the break, leading the Pirates 28-23. Hadavi led the Eagles with 11 points, mainly on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc. At one point during the midway point of the second half, American held a 21-12 lead over Seton Hall, but the Pirates battled back in the latter part of the half, outscoring the Eagles 11-7. Williams had six points for the Eagles as freshman Tish Curry (Pennsauken, N.J./Woodrow Wilson) grabbed eight boards in the first 20 minutes of play.

Hadavi finished with 14 points, sitting much of the game due to foul trouble. Curry finished with 11 boards and seven points, both career highs. Freshman guard Pam Stanfield (College Park, Md./ Riverdale Baptist) was tenacious on defense, drawing numerous charges and hassling Pirate guards all night. Stanfield also finished with a career-high 10 points in the game.

Seton Hall had four different players finish in double digits for scoring, including Blake who had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Shantel Brownfinished with a game-leading 15 points and nine rebounds.

AU's shooting woes continued as they Eagles shot just 30 percent from the floor, while SHU shot 44.8 percent, including an impressive 59 percent in the second half. AU committed 17 turnovers, to Seton Hall's 14. The loss marks the second time this season that American has had a lead going into halftime but could not finish to get a win.

American (0-3) will look for its first win against Western Michigan (0-2) tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Pharmed Arena. The Broncos lost with less than a second on the clock to host FIU earlier in the day. Seton Hall, now 2-1 on the season, will play the host Florida International at 4 p.m.