Feb 21, 2004

Box Score

By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Kelly Whitney and John Allen led a 19-4 spurt to open the second half and Seton Hall held off a late Villanova rally for a 70-68 victory on Saturday.

The Pirates (17-7, 7-5) saw a 15-point lead with 3:30 to play whittled to 69-68 on a 3-pointer by Randy Foye with 50.1 seconds left.

Foye, who scored 12 of his 15 points in Villanova's 16-3 game-closing run, had a chance to put the Wildcats (14-11, 6-6) ahead after Andre Barrett missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28.8 seconds to go.

However, Foye's 3-pointer from the right wing bounced off the rim with 6.8 seconds to go and Whitney was fouled with 5.4 seconds left. Whitney made the first of his one-and-one free throw chance and Foye's desperation shot from midcourt wasn't close. It also seemed to come after the final buzzer.

Barrett led the Pirates with 16 points and seven assists, but he also had a couple of late mistakes that helped Villanova rally. Whitney added 15 points, and John Allen and Marcus Toney-El had 12 points apiece as Seton Hall ended a two-game losing streak and got its NCAA tournament hopes back on track.

Allan Ray had 18 points to lead Villanova. Foye and Curtis Sumpter added 15 apiece while Jason Fraser had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Seton Hall seemingly took control of the game in the opening minutes of the second half when Whitney and Allen scored six points and the Pirates defense limited Villanova to two baskets on its first 14 attempts from the field.

A 3-pointer by Toney-El gave the Pirates a 52-36 lead with 13:33 to play.

The Wildcats, who trailed by 16 with 5:22 to play and by 13 with just over 3? minutes to go, then made Seton Hall sweat as Foye hit five of his next six shots.