Murfreesboro, Tenn. — The Seton Hall Pirates fended off a comeback from the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders for a 74-73 victory.
The Pirates had a 3-point explosion in the first half as they hit 6-of-10 3-pointers with Sidney Cooks leading the charge. Cooks shot 7-of-10 from the field and made 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Lauren Park-Lane finished with eight assists in the first half as well with the Pirate offense being on fire.
This effort led the Pirates to a 38-26 halftime lead in a dominant fashion to start this matchup.
In the second half, the Blue Raiders were able to put pressure on the Pirates and came back to tie the game.
The Blue Raiders had stormed back from a 22-point deficit and that set up a wild fourth quarter of basketball.
MTSU saw success with the three-point shot and continued to take a barrage of threes throughout the game.
The game would come down to its final moments, and both teams would trade leads in the game’s final minutes.
With the Pirates down by four points, Park-Lane drove for an and-one, and the Pirates had a chance.
After the inbound from MTSU, the Pirates forced a jump ball and had a chance to take the lead.
Cooks made a tough catch on the inbound and put in the tough layup to give the Pirates their lead.
The Blue Raiders had one last gasp, but the shot was no good, and the buzzer sounded to send the Pirates to the Championship.
Blue Raiders Dominate The Rebounds
MTSU had was a dominant force on the rebounding end of the game, and it almost made the difference for the Blue Raiders.
They held a seven-rebound margin on the offensive end and snagged 40 rebounds to close out the matchup.
The Blue Raiders took advantage of the height differential they had against the Pirates, but it was not enough to pick up the victory.
Seton Hall Lights It Up From The Field And Behnd The Arc
The offense was not an issue for the Seton Hall Pirates as The Hall shot 50 percent from deep, and 47.5 percent from the field.
Seton Hall was able to be this effective by creating good open shots through the passing game with 10 assists.
Park-Lane finished with a double-double with 10 assists from the superstar point guard.
What’s Next
Seton Hall will take on the Winner of the South Dakota State UCLA matchup in the NIT Final Four. Meanwhile, the MTSU Blue Raiders suffered their first home loss of the season, but still have a lot to hang their head on by accomplishing the feat of reaching the semifinals.
