Colonia’s Hall Seals 51-44 Win Over MAAC Foe With Late Three
JERSEY CITY, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Yanetelli Center on the campus of St. Peter’s College to see the Peacocks in action against conference foe, Siena in the MAAC’s season opener for both teams. Â Siena came in with a record of 2-3. Â The Saints began the year with two wins, but have since lost three straight including a last second defeat to Vermont on Saturday. Â
Meanwhile, the defending MAAC champions Peacocks, entered the game with a record of 1-4 including a loss to Seton Hall last week. Â In that game, St. Peter’s played the Pirates tough, but gave way to the Big East foe thanks to a late 7-0 run for the 63-54 final score. Â These two teams are the last two conference tournament champions. Â St. Peter’s swept the season series last year. Â Brandon Hall (3 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, wearing number 52 in honor of former Colonia High School teammate, Eric LeGrand, is in the starting lineup, and one of several players returning from last year’s NCAA squad.
The Peacocks got off to a fast start as they scored the first seven points including all by Karee Ferguson (7 points and 3 rebounds) including a couple scores off assists by Hall before Siena called for time at the 17:01 mark. Â Following the stoppage, Hall got his hands on a loose ball after Siena lost control of it, and the Colonia native secured possession. Â A short time later, Chris Prescott (16 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists) got a bucket for a 9-0 St. Peter’s lead before there was an official timeout at the 15:44 mark. Â Siena finally got on the board after that with one of two free throws, but Prescott responded with three pointers at the 15:15 and 14:30 marks for a 15-1 lead
The Saints didn’t get their first field goal of the contest until the 13:22 mark when O.D. Anosike converted a traditional three point play for a 15-4 Peacocks lead. Â Yvon Raymond (15 points and 9 rebounds), a standout at Columbia High School in Maplewood and a top player in the old HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic five years ago, broke into the scoring column with a bucket at the 13:02 mark for a 17-4 advantage. Â The Saints were next to score when they drew a foul that resulted in one of two from the foul line, but Peacock junior forward Darius Conley (10 points and 6 rebounds) connected for two points, and a 19-5 St. Peter’s lead prior to another official timeout at the 11:46 mark of the first half.
Over the next 3:19, the visitors from upstate New York outscored the Peacocks by a margin of 3-2 with all the Saints points scored at the line. Â St. Peter’s continued to hold a 21-8 lead when another official timeout was made at the 7:51 mark. Â Over the next 2:25, Siena continued to chip away at the deficit with a 4-3 edge including a putback at the 5:26 mark that compelled St. Peter’s head coach, John Dunne, to call for time. Â Conley accounted for the only Peacock field goal during the run when he scored in the paint to give the home team a 24-10 lead.
Following the timeout, Siena continued to try and climb back into the contest. Â Over a span of 2:03, the Saints got another three point play after a Prescott free throw for a 25-15 score. Â Siena had a chance to get closer, but the Peacocks drew a charge at the 3:23 mark to maintain a double digit lead for the time being. Â About a minute and 45 seconds later, Siena narrowed the deficit to seven at 25-18 on a three pointer from the left wing at the 1:40 mark. Â St. Peter’s outscored Siena by a 9-3 margin in points scored from beyond the arc.
Both teams had chances to score in the final minute of the first half, but turned the ball over. Â It wasn’t until Hall forced a steal in the waning seconds of the half that was converted into points when Raymond followed Hall’s miss on a reverse layup attempt with a two handed flush for a 27-18 Peacocks lead at the intermission. Â Prior to Raymond’s score, St. Peter’s had managed only six points on two field goals and two free throws. Â Siena outscored its MAAC foe by a margin of 17-12 over the final 14:30 of the half. Â The Saints had five field goals and seven foul shots (7 of 10 FTs) in the first half.
Prescott led the way for the hometown Peacocks with a game high 9 points. Ferguson chipped in with 7 points and 2 rebounds while Conley had 6 points along with 4 rebounds, and Raymond had 5 points. Â The second half began with both teams each scoring four points for a 31-22 St. Peter’s lead. Â Raymond and Prescott accounted for the four points with baskets. Â Then, the Peacocks took their biggest lead of the game to this point at 40-24 on a 9-2 run. Â Prescott ignited the run with a trey from the left wing, and Raymond, who had drawn a charge earlier, followed up by battling for an offensive rebound off a Prescott miss, getting another offensive rebound after having his shot blocked, and positioning himself for a score down low that made the score 36-24.
Conley then added two buckets of his own to cap the run as Siena called for time with 14:30 remaining in the game. Â Similar the first half, the Saints had to battle back from a double digit deficit, and over the next 3:24, they did with a 9-0 spurt that included a couple scores prior to an official timeout with under 12 minutes to go in the game, and then one of two from the line, and a three at the 11:06 mark to cap the run, and force the Peacocks to call for time with now only a 40-33 lead. Â Following the stoppage, St. Peter’s got careless with the basketball in their backcourt, and Siena took advantage with a layup at the 9:59 mark to draw within five.
Siena eventually got the deficit two a single basket with 7:52 left thanks to three free throws including one that was interfered with by a St. Peter’s player to close the gap to 40-38. Â The Saints had a chance to tie, but Hall came up with an important charge prior to the official timeout with under eight minutes to go. Â Neither team scored for the next two and a half minutes before the Saints capped a 16-0 surge with a floater at the 5:20 mark for a 40-40 tie. Â It was the first tie of the game. Â The Peacocks would finally end the run with one of two from the line by Raymond at the 4:43 mark. Â It was the first point for St. Peter’s in 9:47.
Under a minute later, Prescott came up with a huge field goal as he took a pass from Hall on the right wing, faked a three, and drove in for a bank shot as the shot clock was running down for a 43-40 lead with four minutes to go. Â Following an official timeout with 2:43 left, Raymond made two free throws for a 45-40 lead, and then the Peacocks got a steal with 2:27 to go. Â The game was put out of reach when Hall pulled up for a three from the left wing for a 48-40 edge with less than two minutes to go. Â From there, St. Peter’s went on to win 51-44. See the article on this game as well as the box score and play-by-play courtesy of the St. Peter’s athletic department web site. Another article on this game is available at nj.com.