BY JASON GUERETTE 

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

You would think that the Seton Hall Pirates losing to St. Peter’s, their longtime rivals from Jersey City, for the first time since 1995 would be the story of the game.

You would think that the 25-foot three that Brian Oliver hit for the Hall to send the contest to overtime when it all seemed elementary that the Pirates would fall in defeat would be the story of the game.

But when the Pirates review their 83-80 OT loss against the Peacocks on a snowy Saturday afternoon at the Rock in Newark, one prevailing thought comes to mind- hope that Sterling Gibbs is alright.

With the Pirates down by two points in the waning moments of the second half, Gibbs- who did not start the game because he had been under the weather the last few days with the flu- drove in hard like he normally does, taking contact and tumbling awkwardly to the floor near the Pirates’ bench.

The star point guard grabbed his right knee immediately, as the whole arena watched in stunned silence, the air having been let out of the building. For a Pirates team that was decimated by injuries last season, and had already seen starters Fuquan Edwin and Patrik Auda be felled by injuries in the early season this year, the sight of the Scotch Plains native on the floor must have felt like a punch in the gut.

“It’s his knee,” head coach Kevin Willard said after the loss, which snapped a 17-game winning streak against Saint Peter’s. “We won’t know (what happened) for sure until the MRI tomorrow, but it doesn’t look good.”

It was the latest cruel twist of fate for Seton Hall in a game with plenty of them down the stretch. Gibbs wasn’t even the only Pirate lost to injury in the game, as reserve center Aaron Geramipoor was forced to leave the game with a sprained ankle after nine minutes of game action in the first half.

All hope seemed lost for Seton Hall as the Peacocks had a five point lead, 64-59, with 1:17 left in the second half, but two layups (one of which while being fouled for a three-point play) from Gibbs sandwiched around two Desi Washington free throws for Saint Peter’s cut the deficit to two with 19 seconds left.

Gibbs’ injury followed, and after center Eugene Teague made one of the ensuing two free throws (the Peacocks were allowed to choose the shooter since Gibbs left due to injury), cutting the deficit to one, the Pirates fouled Peacocks guard Jamel Fields.

Fields missed both shots, but on the ensuing possession, Pirates guard Jaren Sina had his jump shot blocked, forcing the Hall to foul Washington once more. Washington made both free throws, making the score 68-65 in favor of the visitors with just over one second left.

Seton Hall threw a long pass into the frontcourt before immediately calling timeout with 1.1 seconds left. The Pirates then drew up an inbounds play that got the ball into Oliver’s hands. The senior sharpshooter took the long jumper from straight away as the buzzer sounded, and rattled it home.

The crowd cheered wildly, having been given new hope that the game could yet be salvaged in the extra session.

In overtime, both teams traded blows. A three by Haralds Karlis put Seton Hall up three points, but Washington answered with one of his own to tie the score. A layup in traffic by Teague was answered in kind by Peacocks forward Marvin Dominique.

After another exchange of layups kept the game tied, Washington drained another triple to give Saint Peter’s the edge. The deficit was still three when Oliver stepped up yet again, tying the game with 13 seconds left with another clutch three-pointer.

But Washington came down the floor on the ensuing possession and delivered the final figurative punch, another three-pointer with five seconds left. Sina’s desperation three missed wide to the left, and Seton Hall lost.

The Pirates’ head coach commented on the state of the team afterwards.

“We’ll bounce back,” Willard said. “We bounced back last time. Hopefully we can get Patrik back, get Fuquan back sometime soon. We just have to have some guys step up- that’s the way life is.”

Seton Hall was led by Oliver’s 26 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double as a Pirate. He made five of the Hall’s seven three-pointers in the game. Teague finished with his fourth-straight double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Gibbs finished with 17 points off the bench, making all nine of his free throws in 29 minutes of action before his injury.

Saint Peter’s was led by a game-high and career-high 34 points from Washington in the contest, with a remarkable seven three-pointers made in just nine attempts. Dominique added 25 points and eight rebounds for the Peacocks, who improved to 3-6 with the victory.

Seton Hall, now standing at 7-4 overall, will await the results of Gibbs’ MRI on Monday afternoon. Putting their injuries aside, the Hall also recently lost reserve guards Hakeem Harris, who chose to transfer, and Tom Maayan, who returned to his native Israel to fulfill a military commitment. If Gibbs is sidelined, the Pirates’ guard rotation becomes dangerously thin.

The similarities to last season are almost haunting, but the Hall knows that it cannot look back now- it can only look forward.

“It’s tough,” Oliver said. “We went through this already, went through this last year. To see it happening again… it’s debilitating. It takes a toll on your mind. But we have to find a way. We have no other choice.”

Seton Hall returns to action next Sunday, December 22nd, when they host Eastern Washington at 5:30 p.m. at Prudential Center in Newark.