DePaul Quotes | Seton Hall Quotes | Box Score

By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
 
When Seton Hall went up to Providence and shocked the Friars on the final day of the regular season last weekend, it was an offensive explosion by the Pirates that was more the exception than the norm for an outfit that has hung its hat on its defensive prowess this season.
 
That 82 points the Pirates dropped on Providence? More of a mirage. No, if the Pirates were to make any noise in this year’s BIG EAST Tournament, it would most likely come from the defensive end - or not at all. No. 7 Seton Hall came into its tournament opener against 10th-seeded DePaul ranked second in the league in scoring defense (65.1 ppg.), field goal percentage defense (41.5%) and three-point defense (30.6%).
 
So the game plan, at least from the Pirates end of things, was fairly simple - put the clamps on Umoja Gibson, the third-leading scorer in the conference at 16.5 points a game - and odds of walking away with a victory and a date in Thursday’s quarterfinals would increase immeasurably.
 
And when you consider DePaul came into the game riding a 12-game losing streak, with its last win coming on January 18 against Xavier no less, well, surely that impressive and improbable victory over Providence was to be the start of something good for these Pirates.
 
But funny things tend to happen in March. Seton Hall’s defense did a fine job in limiting Gibson to just 10 points. But what the Pirates didn’t count on was Javan Johnson dropping 19 points. They didn’t count on Jalen Terry notching 14 points and going 4-for-4 from three point range. They didn’t count on Nick Ongenda scoring 15 points and blocking five shots. And they especially didn’t count on Ongenda’s final block, a game-saving swat on the game’s final play, which secured an unlikely 66-65 victory for DePaul in its BIG EAST Tournament opening round game.
 
Wins haven’t come easy for the Blue Demons this year and this one was no different as theBlue Demons were forced to await an official’s ruling as to whether Ongenda’s block on a layup attempt by the Hall’s Femi Odukale was actually goaltending. Officials huddled around a TV monitor and discussed and what was just a minute or two in real time seemed like an eternity for DePaul’s bench. But when the announcement was made that it was a clean block, the Demons’ bench erupted, the 12-game losing streak was over, the BIG EAST Tournament had its first upset and DePaul had earned a taste of March magic.
 
“I didn’t know if it was goaltending or if time ran out or exactly what they were looking at at the monitor,” DePaul head coach Terry Stubblefield said. “I was sitting and waiting like everyone else.”
 
While the large crowd at the Garden awaited a verdict, Ongenda said he was never worried about the outcome.
 
“I knew it was a block,” Ongenda said. “I didn’t really have to wait for the review. That’s what I do. I’m good at blocking shots.”
 
DePaul (10-22) trailed 63-58 with 1:00 to play after Seton Hall’s Tyrese Samuel sank a pair of free throws. But Terry drained a three-ball with 41.7 to play to trim the DePaul deficit to 63-61. The Pirates (17-15) bumped their lead back to four after a pair of free throws from Jamir Harris with 17.3 seconds to play and it looked like the Pirates would hold on for the win.
 
But Terry converted a layup with 7.2 seconds to play to pull with 65-63 and that’s when the Hall turned the ball over at the most inopportune time. The Hall’s KC Ndefo then fouled Gibson on a three-point attempt with 3.9 seconds remaining and he calmly sank all three shots to give DePaul a one-point lead and set the stage for the dramatic ending, starring Ongenda.
 
“All I would say is there were a lot of emotions because we felt good snapping that (12-game losing) streak,” Terry said. “We’ve had a lot of tough losses, close losses, and it felt good to get up on them.”
 
The Blue Demons now move on to face No. 2 Xavier in the quarterfinal Thursday night at 7 p.m. DePaul and the Musketeers split the season series this year.
 
But that game can wait awhile as the Demons soak in a long-awaited victory. A taste of glory on the grandest basketball stage in the most important basketball month of all.
 
“It’s very big,” Gibson said. “We lost 12 games but this is a new season. This is the postseason. Everyone is 0-0 right now, We got our full roster and we’re ready to rock and roll.”