Peacocks Win Tale of Two Halves
by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – With four minutes remaining in the first half at Yanitelli Center on Friday evening, Canisius held a 28-12 lead. The visiting Golden Griffins were clicking offensively while St. Peter’s couldn’t find the mark. In the final four minutes, St. Peter’s gradually found the range but did go into the half trailing 33-21.
The second half was a complete turnaround. Following a 6 of 28 first half from the field, St. Peter’s found the mark and shot a decent 44 percent (15 of 34). On the other side, Canisius struggled through a 4 of 20 second half from the field. It should be noted that the Griffs’ shot selection was at times, questionable at best.
“We kept the deficit reasonable,” St. Peter’s coach John Dunne said.” Going in twelve down has you in striking distance as opposed to being down 18 or 20.”
The second half saw St. Peter’s get good looks and attack the basket. Nick Leon, a redshirt freshman, did the most damage by scoring 16 of his game-high 19 points following intermission. The 5’11” guard normally starts but did the job in relief.
“We just did a much better job executing as a team the second half,” Dunne said.
Todd Sowell entered the game needing 4 points to hit the 1,000 point milestone. The St. Peter’s senior big man finished with 4 points and 8 rebounds in an outing abbreviated by foul trouble.
“He usually gets a double-double scoring and rebounding,” Dunne said of the 6’9″ center. “Tonight his numbers were down, but every minute he was out of the game he was there cheering his teammates on.”
Sowell has been a revelation this season, both on and off the court. His scoring numbers have been similar to those of last year, 13.9 ppg compared to 13.0, rebounding has increased to 11.7 contrasted to 8.5 a season ago. Regardless, Sowell’s work ethic and overall commitment belie sheer numbers.
Dunne noted that as soon as last season ended Sowell began a conditioning program that went through the spring, summer and fall. “He not only worked on his game but did a lot of flexibility stuff,” Dunne said. “He really worked on conditioning and becoming more agile.”
Sowell is strong inside and a number of times has worked through second and third efforts to keep a rebound alive or get it and convert it to a field goal.
Sowell also went on another mission: becoming a team leader. Dunne never really talked to his senior center about assuming such a role. It was more a case of Sowell buying into it.
“I always talk to the team as a whole about leadership,” Dunne said. “Every good team has good leadership, someone to step in and take that role.” As his game on the floor has improved, so has the performance off it. Sowell has assumed that area of team leadership and set an example. He has been an exemplary role model for the team. “This year as a team there have been no complaints,” Dunne said. That can largely be attributed to Sowell’s direction.
Bloomfield Tech coach Nick Mariniello was at the Canisius/St. Peter’s game. Wesley Jenkins, a freshman guard who played for Mairniello at Tech, had a 10-point, 7-rebound effort. Mariniello reports that Jenkins “loves it at St.Peter’s” and is enjoying playing for John Dunne.
UConn/Seton Hall Notes
- Bobby Gonzalez prides himself on having his team not lose two straight. The Seton Hall coach is very aware of win streaks and series against opponents. Following Thursday’s 98-86 loss to UConn, a stat Gonzalez also discussed was the Husky domination in the series. UConn entered the Prudential Center winning 13 of the last 14 and 20 of 22 from the Hall. “That’s not something I am used to,” Gonzalez said of the dominating Husky run. “We have to find away to stop that and win one of these games. We have to beat someone we are not supposed to.” The Hall followed up the UConn loss with a win over Morgan State on Saturday.
- Another stat Gonzalez discussed was free throw shooting. UConn attempted 47 from the charity stripe compared to 12 for Seton Hall. Gonzalez, hit with a T the second half, would not blame the disparity on the officials, citing he would “have to look at the film.” One reason for the huge difference was shot selection. Seton Hall attempted 33 of their 84 shots (39 percent) from beyond the arc while UConn attempted 13 of 57 (23 percent) from the same range. Simply, getting in the lane gets you to the line.
- The game was the first Big East contest in the Prudential Center. The first Big East game ever was at Seton Hall in December of 1979 between Boston College and the Hall at Walsh Gym on campus. And yes, I covered that one too.
