Seton Hill hosted Gannon on Wednesday evening with a game and a half lead over the visiting Knights for fourth place in the PSAC West standings. The Griffins rallied from 14 points down late in the third quarter only to see a controversial call with 28 second remaining in the game erase a SHU basket and give the Knights an opportunity to break the tie. Gannon hit the game winning shot with two seconds to play for a 61-59 win over the Griffins. SHU drops to 16-6 overall and 11-5 in PSAC West play while the Knights improve to 13-8 overall and 10-5 in PSAC play.
Neither team shot the ball well out of the gates with the score tied at six more than halfway thru the first quarter. Gannon scored five straight before three pointers from
Jenna Kaufman and
Courtney Cecere put SHU in front 12-11 with 1:38 left in the quarter. Another basket from Kaufman pushed the lead to 14-11 at the end of the first quarter.
Another Kaufman basket pushed the lead to 16-11 before the Knights hit back to back threes to take a 17-16 lead with 8:43 to play before the half. Cecere answered right back with a three pointer before
Cheyenne Trest hit a lay-in to push the lead to 21-17 with 7:16 to go. Over the next five and a half minutes, the Knights outscored the Griffins to take a 32-25 lead. A jumper from Cecere and Trest trimmed the lead to 32-29 with just over a minute to play but the Knights scored the final five points to take a 37-29 halftime lead.
The Knights were able to push their lead to 14 points at 45-31 with three minutes to play in the third quarter as the Griffins managed just two points over that span. Trest and
Alexandra Hay each hit threes to cut the lead to 45-37 with 1:42 to go in the third quarter. Two free throws from Cecere and a jumper from Trest trimmed the lead to 47-41 before the Knights hit a basket to take a 49-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
SHU was able to keep Gannon off the scoreboard for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Five straight points from Hay opened the quarter and cut the lead to 49-46. Trest and Kaufman then connected on two free throws each to give SHU a 50-49 lead with 5:04 to play. Back to back baskets from the Knights gave them the lead back at 53-50 with 3:33 to go. Another basket from Hay cut the lead to 55-54 with 2:33 to go. After two Gannon free throws, Kaufman tied the game at 57 with a three pointer with 1:38 remaining. Gannon was fouled on their next possession and hit two free throws and Trest did the same, tying the score at 59 with 45 seconds to play.
The next possession was where the controversial call hit. Hay forced a turnover and got a steal and broke away on a two on one with Kaufman. At the last second, Hay dished a pass to Kaufman who went up for what looked like the go ahead lay-in and an opportunity for a three point play. But the play was not called a block but instead was called a charge on Kaufman, giving Gannon the ball back with 28 seconds and the game still tied. The Knights hit a jumper with just over two seconds remaining and the Griffins last second shot was knocked away.
Kaufman paced the Griffins with another double double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Trest also scored 18 points for the Griffins. Hay and Cecere both reached double figures with 10 each.
SHU will hit the road on Saturday when they travel to Slippery Rock for another PSAC West contest. Tip is set for 1 PM.
