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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Seton Hall was set up to be upset.
Samuel Dalembert made a big play at each of the court late to make sure it didn't happen.
|  | | Seton Hall's Samuel Dalembert had this jam in the first half, then two big plays to close out the game and enable the Pirates to avoid the upset. |
The Pirates (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 Associated Press), coming off their first defeat of the
season in overtime to Illinois and with Michigan State up next, had to scramble and scratch to beat winless
Pennsylvania 80-78 on Wednesday night.
Dalembert made a big defensive play with 10 seconds to play,
then laid in an alley-oop pass from Ty Shine with 3.9 seconds left
to give Seton Hall the come-from-behind victory.
"I saw there was 10 seconds left and I just ran as fast as I
could to get in position and I just put my hands up and Ty made a
great pass," said the 6-foot-11 sophomore who finished with 18
points and six rebounds.
The Pirates (6-1) were coming off the defeat against Illinois on
Saturday in which they blew a 21-point first-half lead. This was
quite different as the Quakers (0-7) opened the game by making 12
of their first 13 shots and took a 29-12 lead with 13:06 left in
the first half.
Seton Hall managed to close to 42-41 at halftime as Penn
went just 3-for-19 from the field the rest of the half.
"We weren't ready and they were. You could see that right from
the start," Seton Hall freshman forward Eddie Griffin said. "We
recovered and did a good job at the end, but I think we took them
lightly. We didn't play our best. It was a tough one."
It also was tough for Penn, which matched the worst start in
school history.
"It's frustrating. We put ourselves in a position to win and
couldn't get it done," Quakers coach Fran Dunphy said. "We're a
pretty good basketball team, but we don't know who we are yet. We
don't know how to win yet, but hopefully we'll get there."
Dalembert, who entered the game shooting just 50 percent from
the free-throw line, made four free throws in a 6-0 run that gave
Seton Hall a 71-67 lead with 4:42 to play.
Penn, which started the 1984-85 season 0-7 and went on to win
the Ivy League, stayed with the Pirates and a reverse layup by
Ugonna Onyekwe with 1:04 left tied the game 78-78. Onyekwe, who
finished with a career-high 26 points and also had 11 rebounds,
missed the free throw to complete the three-point play.
Seton Hall turned the ball over with 42 seconds left and after a
timeout, the Quakers ran the clock down to 10 seconds, but Charlie
Copp couldn't get a shot off as he drove to the basket, mainly
because Dalembert was there.
The Pirates went right down court and Shine threw the ball
toward the basket. Dalembert caught it in the air and laid it in
for the winning points.
"I think we caught them off guard," Shine said of the last
play. "Everybody seemed to swarm toward the ball and forgot about
their man. I was going to hold the ball and take the last shot
myself but I saw Sam jumping up and down in the paint and threw him
the alley-oop."
Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker said he was glad to see Dalembert
get rewarded.
"This kid has worked hard. He has invested more time this year
than he ever has," Amaker said. "We made a play at the end. Ty
Shine kept his composure and I think that's the fastest I've seen
Sam run in a year.
"The last few days have been an emotional roller coaster. It
was a letdown to lose at Illinois and with Michigan State around
the corner (Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic) we knew this was going
to be a dangerous game."
Penn's final chance ended in a scramble just inside halfcourt.
"We had them right where we wanted them the whole game,"
Onyekwe said. "This was our best chance for a win and we just
couldn't close it out."
Only two of Penn's defeats have been by more than six points.
"It's no consolation to play these teams tough and lose,"
Onyekwe said. "We're 0-7, obviously we're not doing something
right."
Griffin had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Pirates, his sixth
double-double of the season but the first game in which he did not
score 20 or more points. Andre Barrett had 16 of his 17 points in
the first half for Seton Hall and Darius Lane had 15 points.
Lamar Plummer had a career-high 23 points for the Quakers and
was 6-for-11 from 3-point range, while Geoff Owens added 12 points.
Penn, which trailed Maryland 52-30 at halftime of its last game,
started the game by going 12-for-13 from the field, including making
all five of its 3-point attempts. Once the Quakers started missing
they missed badly, going 8:22 without a field goal as Seton Hall
closed to 34-29.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Pennsylvania Clubhouse
Seton Hall Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Pirates' Ty Shine finds Samuel Dalembert for the game-winning shot.
avi: 573 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ugonna Onyekwe ties the game and has a chance to put the Quakers ahead with 1:04 left.
avi: 1210 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Darius Lane picks Geoff Owens' pocket for an easy two points.
avi: 633 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
The Quakers' Koko Archibong finds the open lane and takes it in for the jam.
avi: 958 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Seton Hall's Eddie Griffin follows a Darius Lane miss with a dunk.
avi: 840 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marcus Toney-El finds Samuel Dalembert under the hoop for a Seton Hall basket.
avi: 501 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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