No. 11 Pirates Win Ppd. Game

Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker wants to see more intensity from his talented team once the conference schedule starts.

Darius Lane scored 26 points and Eddie Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds as 11th-ranked Seton Hall beat Central Connecticut 84-73 Sunday.

Seton Hall, which opens Big East play against Providence on Wednesday, saw its 18-point lead whittled to five late in the game.

"Conference play is starting this week and I hope our guys are a little nervous about it because that may give them a sense of urgency about our play," Amaker said.

"With our team, a lot can be attributed to youth. When you have situations where you end up trading baskets you don't have the sense of urgency to guard, to defend, to rebound. Because you are scoring you think things are OK. I'm hoping we will grow out of it soon because it's going to end up catching up to us."

Corsley Edwards had 30 points and nine rebounds for Central Connecticut (5-5), which hadn't played since a 63-56 overtime loss at Air Force on Dec. 12.

Seton Hall (9-2) only trailed once - when Central Connecticut scored the game's first basket.

But the Blue Devils made Seton Hall work for its victory, rallying from an 18-point deficit in the second half to make it 76-71 on Lee Guinn's 3-pointer with 4:32 to play.

Lane responded by making one of two free throws and then turned a steal into a three-point play to give the Pirates a cushion.

"We should have learned our lesson from the Illinois game," Lan said, referring to an 87-79 loss in which the Pirates wasted a 21-point lead. "Against a good team games can change very quickly. We definitely have to get more intense."

With 6-foot-11 sophomore center Samuel Dalembert missing the game to attend his grandmother's funeral in Haiti, Seton Hall had virtually no inside presence.

The Pirates went 8-for-18 on 3-pointers en route to a 41-32 halftime lead.

Seton Hall opened the game with a 9-2 run that included two 3-pointers by Lane and one by Andre Barrett. The hosts closed the half with a 12-5 burst, including five points from Barrett and four from Lane.

Barrett finished with 17 points and 10 assists, while Ty Shine scored 10 for the Pirates.

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