BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team squandered a late second half lead, resulting in a 56-53 defeat to St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. The Peacocks led the entire second half, giving up the go-ahead point with just 13.3 seconds left in the contest.
Game Notes
- St. Francis Brooklyn (7-4) claimed an early 6-0 lead behind consecutive 3-pointers, but Saint Peter's (2-8) responded with an 8-0 run after Dallas Watson hit a corner triple, to give the Peacocks their first lead of the afternoon.
- After a 10-10 tie, four separate lead changes resulted in the Terriers taking a 21-14 lead over the Peacocks, forcing head coach Shaheen Holloway to call a timeout with 7:07 remaining in the half.
- Following the timeout, the Peacocks went on a 5-0 run, beginning with a Davauhnte Turner layup and ending with a layup by Quinn Taylor to cut the deficit to 21-19.
- The run extended to 8-1 when Watson hit his second 3-pointer of the day, tying the game at 22-22.
- The Peacocks jumped ahead behind Turner scoring six straight points to give Saint Peter's a 28-27 lead with 30 seconds to go.
- Fittingly, with 3.0 seconds before halftime, Taylor received an inbound pass and put up a trifecta at the buzzer to send the Peacocks into the half with a 31-27 lead.
- The Peacocks outscored the Terriers 17-6 over the final seven minutes to close out the half.
- The four-point lead was maintained by the Peacocks for a large part of the second half.
- At the 10:39 mark, Watson hit his third shot from beyond the arc to extend the Peacocks lead to its largest of the day (50-42).
- Watson's jumper would be the last made field goal for Saint Peter's on the night, as the team went 0-10 from the field and 3-6 from the free throw line down the stretch.
- Clinging to a 53-52 lead with 1:40 to play, Turner turned the ball over to St. Francis Brooklyn on the Peacocks' next possession and with 31 seconds to left, Watson missed a 3-point attempt leaving the lead at 53-52 with 24 ticks remaining.
- The next possession for the Terriers resulted in a questionable foul called on Saint Peter's that put St. Francis Brooklyn's leading scorer, Jalen Jordan, on the line for the game-tying and go-ahead free throws.
- With just 13.3 seconds to play, Turner drove to the basket and put up a turnaround midrange jumper in the paint that hit the left side of the rim, resulting in a Terrier defensive rebound.
- St. Francis Brooklyn added two free throws with 0.5 seconds after a foul called following the Terrier rebound, resulting in the 56-53 defeat.
Inside the Numbers
- Four Peacocks scored in double figures resulting in all 53 of the team's points.
- Turner scored a team-leading 19 points, followed by Taylor's season-high of 12 points.
- Samuel Idowu and Watson each added 11 points to the box score for Saint Peter's.
- Watson matched his career-high in points for the third consecutive game.
- The Peacocks led for 60 percent of the game, including all of the second half until the go-ahead free throw with 13 seconds left.
- The Peacocks controlled the interior, outscoring the Terriers 28-10 in the paint.
- Saint Peter's gave up 11 made 3-pointers to St. Francis Brooklyn, with the starting backcourt of Jordan and Glenn Sanabria combining to hit nine of them.
- The loss snapped a six-game series winning streak the Peacocks had over the Terriers.
Coach's Quotes - Shaheen Holloway
- "We just have to keep fighting. We have to try to find a way to get a win and gain some confidence."
- "I thought the guys battled hard today. We had a couple of shots down the stretch that we normally make, that we didn't make. We just have to get back to the drawing board, get back to practice, guys have to finish up their finals this week and then we have a long winter break to try and get better."
- "I thought for the first game playing without Cam [Jones], that Te [Davauhnte Turner] did a good job playing at the point. I thought the young guys stepped up. We just have to get some consistency."
- "This was a tough one. This was a tough loss. I thought the guys played their butts off to get this win and then a tough call down the stretch, but it shouldn't have even come to that."
- "We have to get back to the drawing board and I have to find a way to keep our confidence going. We can't have scoring droughts like we did today and we just have to keep fighting."
- "We have to get back in the lab, see what's working and what's not working and make some adjustments."
Up Next
- The Peacocks conclude the three-game NEC series at Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday, December 19.
- Saint Peter's and FDU will tip at 7 p.m.
