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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Eddie Griffin is impressing
everybody but himself.
The freshman forward had his third double-double in as many
games, getting 26 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocked shots as Seton Hall (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) beat St. Peter's 104-85 Monday night.
|  | | The sky's the limit for Seton Hall freshman Eddie Griffin, left, who had 26 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocked shots. |
"To have 21 rebounds in a game is just phenomenal," Seton Hall
coach Tommy Amaker said. "The fact that this kid is a freshman, it
was just a phenomenal performance out of a kid who we think has a
chance to be a great one."
The 6-foot-9 Griffin, one of the most highly recruited high
school players in the nation last season out of Philadelphia, had
18 points and 16 rebounds at halftime as the Pirates (3-0) took a
57-38 lead.
"I saw him in high school and at camps and there's no telling
how good he can be," St. Peter's coach Bob Leckie said. "I think
as he matures more and more and gets an understanding of the game
he'll be a phenomenal player."
It seemed the only person not using the word phenomenal about
Griffin was Griffin.
"I knew I had a lot of rebounds but I didn't know how many and
I didn't know I had seven blocks," he said quietly, sitting in the
locker room surrounded by reporters. "Everybody on the team is a
piece to the puzzle. Everybody does different things well."
But it was Griffin who got the attention.
He scored half the points in Seton Hall's 24-8 run to close the
opening 20 minutes and each basket was different as he scored on a
rebound, a turnaround, a short jumper, a dunk, a reverse dunk on an
alley-oop pass and a layup with five seconds left after his
teammates made four passes to get the ball in perfect position for
him.
"We were very unselfish," Griffin said.
Darius Lane had 24 points for Seton Hall, while Samuel Dalembert
had 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting and eight blocks and Ty Shine
added 16 points. Freshman point guard Andre Barrett had seven
points and 13 assists.
"I was really impressed and pleased with our unselfishness. We
had 31 assists," Amaker said. "I thought we really looked for one
another. Certainly the efficiency of Griffin and Lane is great for
us right now."
Seton Hall finished with a 49-23 rebound advantage against the
injury-riddled Peacocks (1-3), who were no match inside against
Griffin and Dalembert.
Melvin Robinson had 24 points for St. Peter's, while Rodney
Rodgers added 20.
St. Peter's was within 33-30 with 5:41 left in the first half
when Griffin keyed the closing run to the first half. The Pirates
opened the second half with an 11-4 run to take their biggest lead,
68-42, with 17:59 to play.
Griffin had four points in that run, the last coming when he was
credited with the basket when Regis Devonish of the Peacocks batted
a rebound into his own basket.
St. Peter's didn't quit and got within 88-77 on a 3-pointer by
Devonish with 4:50 left. But Barrett and Shine each had a 3-pointer
in a quick 8-2 burst that put Seton Hall back in command.
"Our strategy was to not make this a game of runs but one of
possession by possession and to their credit they took us out of
that game plan," Leckie said. "We lost our poise and composure.
"They are obviously a very good basketball team. It going to
take time for them to understand what it takes to win as a team but
I wouldn't want to see them in March."
Griffin can't wait for that.
"We just want to keep winning, keep playing as a team and get
to the NCAA tournament," he said.
It was Seton Hall's fifth straight win over the Peacocks and
14th in their last 15 meetings.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
St Peters Clubhouse
Seton Hall Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 A spectacular finish by Darius Lane completes a Seton Hall fast break.
avi: 1430 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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