National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Seton Hall 75, St. Francis (NY) 71
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 12, 2011
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Officials: # Evon Burroughs, # Gary Prager, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance: 6988

Jordan Theodore knocked down a leaner in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime, setting the table for a 75-71 win over St. Francis (N.Y.) at the Prudential Center.

Seton Hall (1-0, 0-0 Big East) improved to 11-2 in its last 13 season openers and bumped its all-time record against NEC teams to 131-40.

St. Francis (N.Y.) (0-1, 0-0 NEC) is now 11-38 in its all-time series with the Pirates.

Theodore, who was whistled for a critical travelling call late in regulation, redeemed himself with his last-second heroics and finished the game with 25 points for the Pirates, 11 coming in the extra period. Senior forward Herb Pope scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, despite some early struggles around the rim.

The Pirates gave up the lead six minutes into the game and didn’t get it back until just under four minutes remaining in overtime. Seton Hall, which is trying to replace departed scorer Jeremy Hazell, struggled on the offensive end, shooting just 26-for-63 and coughing the ball up 14 times.

The Terriers held the lead for the majority of the game, in part to a solid debut performance from guard Ben Mockford. Mockford, who was recruited by Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard from England while Willard was at Iona, transferred to St. Francis (N.Y.) last season. He scored 13 points and was 4-for-10 from beyond the arc.

St. Francis (N.Y.) guard Travis Nichols led the Terriers with 25 points while swingman Stefan Perunicic added 11 points in the loss.

Seton Hall was outworked on the glass, getting outrebounded 45-39 by St. Francis (N.Y.) despite the Terriers having no players over 6-foot-8 on their roster.
Top Game Performances
 
St. Francis (NY)   Seton Hall
Travis Nichols 25 Scoring Jordan Theodore 25
Dre Calloway 6 Assists Patrik Auda 2
Travis Nichols 14 Rebounds Herb Pope 14
Dre Calloway 2 Free Throws Made Jordan Theodore 9
Travis Nichols 3 Steals Fuquan Edwin 4
Jalen Cannon 2 Blocks Herb Pope 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
St. Francis (NY) 71 40.3 12-26 5-11 14 45 4 9 23
Seton Hall 75 41.3 1-13 22-37 7 39 6 10 14