Late Rally Falls Short, Friars Lose to Seton Hall

The Providence College men's basketball team was defeated by Seton Hall, 70-52, in BIG EAST Conference action at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Feb. 25. Providence's Ben Bentil (Wilmington, Del.) led all scorers in the game with 31 points, including 21 in the second half.  He also added six rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Kris Dunn (New London, Conn.) opened the scoring just 15-seconds into the game as the Friars won the tip and Bentil found Dunn on the left block for an easy lay-in.  Seton Hall answered with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes of play, while forcing three Providence turnovers.  Providence went to its bench early as Rodney Bullock (Hampton, Va.) was hit with two fouls in the first 2:41 of play.  The Pirates took their 7-2 advantage into the first media timeout at 15:11.

Box Score

By the midway point of the first half (10:01) the Friars trailed 17-10, having only hit just 4-14 attempts from the field (.290), while the Pirates checked in at 40-percent (6-15).

Bentil and Kyron Cartwright (Compton, Calif.) combined to score the Friars' next nine points heading into the final media timeout of the first half as Providence trailed, 24-19, with 3:41 on the clock.  Bentil scored each of the Friars' next four points, to put him in double figures with 10 points. 

Bentil netted a pair of free throws with 42-seconds remaining in the first half to get Providence within four (27-23).  Seton Hall put up an errant attempt from three-point range on the other end, and Cartwright came up with the defensive board.  Providence called a timeout to draw up the final play of the half, but Dunn was charged with an offensive foul while driving to the basket.  The turnover proved costly as Seton Hall's Isaiah Whitehead nailed a three-pointer as time expired to give the Pirates a 30-23 advantage at halftime.

Bentil led the Friars with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Jalen Lindsey (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) hauled in a team-high six rebounds. Whitehead led the way for Seton Hall with 16 first-half points going 5-8 shooting from the floor, including 3-5 from three-point range.

Seton Hall opened the second half on a 12-0 run to take a 42-23 lead. Bentil halted the Pirate's run with a lay-in at the 15:52 mark to make the score 42-25. Bentil's bucket was the beginning of a quick 6-0 offensive spurt for Providence to get the Friars within 42-29.

The Pirates answered back with an 11-3 run to take a 21-point advantage on the scoreboard (53-32) with 11:18 remaining in the game. Bentil put the Friars on his back as Providence went on a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to seven (57-50) with 6:22 left on the clock.  Bentil tallied 14 of the Friars' 17 points in the run.  During the run SHU's Angel Delgado was assessed a `Flagrant 1' foul on Bentil heading to the hoop. He hit one of two free throws, but Providence secured the offensive rebound, allowing Bentil to drain a three-pointer from the left wing.  Heading into the final media timeout of the second half, the Friars still faced a 59-52 deficit on the scoreboard (3:58).

Shortly after play resumed, Bentil was assessed a `Flagrant 2' foul and was subsequently ejected from the game.  The Pirates made the two technical free throws and converted a conventional three-point play on the ensuing possession to take a 65-52 lead with 3:10 to play.

Seton Hall was able to fend off the Friars with an 11-0 scoring advantage during the final 4:56 of regulation.

During the game, Dunn became the first Friar ever to register 1,000 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals.  He entered the game needing just one steal, and recorded the feat just 38-seconds into the game.  Dunn finished the night with eight points and three steals, while Cartwright tallied seven points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists.  Lindsey led the Friars on the boards with seven rebounds.

Providence shot just 28-percent from the field in the game (19-67), while Seton Hall converted 46-percent of its shot attempts (26-57).  The Pirates also held a 49-36 edge in rebounding.

Whitehead paced Seton Hall with 25 points.  Delgado posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Khadeen Carrington (12 points) and Desi Rodriguez (11 points) each recorded double figures.

​The Friars return to action on Saturday, Feb. 27 against DePaul at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I.  The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4:00 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network (CBSSN).