EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The veteran guards made sure the
Seton Hall freshmen won their first Big East game.
Ty Shine had a season-high 25 points and Darius Lane added 24 as
the 11th-ranked Pirates beat Providence 87-80 on Wednesday night,
snapping the Friars' seven-game winning streak.
|  | | Eddie Griffin, who scored 16, pulls down one of his 16 rebounds in his first Big East win at Seton Hall. |
The Pirates (10-2) have one of the best rookie classes in the
country and forward Eddie Griffin had a big game against Providence
with 16 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. But it was Shine
and Lane, the junior guards, who took over in the second half of
the conference opener for both teams.
"The young guys are still learning," Shine said. "They don't
know what to expect."
Shine was one point shy of his career-high, which he had in the
second-round upset of Temple in last season's NCAA tournament. He
scored 10 straight points for the Pirates in the second half, the
first of which was a 3-pointer with 10:56 to play that gave them
their biggest lead, 59-46.
Providence (9-4) closed to 66-59 on a jumper by Marcus Douthit
with 4:48 left, but Lane then took over, scoring seven of Seton
Hall's next nine points as it built the lead back to 75-63 with
2:07 left.
"It was nice to see the older guys step forward and lead our
team," Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker said. "It says volumes about
where this team can go."
Seton Hall was 12-for-14 from the free-throw line over the final
2:37 to hold off Providence, which did get as close as 81-75 with
31 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Christopher Anrin.
"Shine and Lane had us on our heels defensively all night,"
Providence coach Tim Welsh said. "They're a team with a lot of
weapons including an All-American inside player."
Griffin has had a double-double in every game this season except
one.
"They did a better job of defending me than the other teams
have," said Griffin, who was 8-for-18 from the field. "They took
a lot of my shots away."
The Pirates only used seven players Wednesday night as starting
center Samuel Dalembert missed his second game after going to his
native Haiti to attend the funeral of his paternal grandmother.
"This was a great victory for us, one of the best team games
we've played," Lane said. "We had a lot of intensity. Everyone
was on the same page. But the best is yet to come."
Douthit, Romuald Augustin and Karim Shabazz each had 12 points
for the Friars, who had not lost since Nov. 26, when they were
beaten by Auburn.
"Seton Hall is a very good team and I thought we played very
hard," Welsh said. "Of course we are disappointed with the loss
but we are still going to be moving ahead. We'll build on what we
did well and try to correct a couple of things."
Shine was 8-for-12 from the field, including 3-for-6 from
3-point range, as the Pirates won their fourth straight.
"I just got in a zone, felt confident that everything I put up
would go in," Shine said. "Now with a win under their belts our
young guys can relax a little bit, gain some confidence and
maturity."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Darius Lane gets the steal and passes to Eddie Griffin for the jam.
avi: 785 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
The Friars' John Linehan picks Andre Barrett's pocket and pulls up for two.
avi: 660 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Seton Hall's Eddie Griffin dishes to Marcus Toney-El for the reverse.
avi: 845 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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