The Seton Hill University’s (SHU) men’s basketball team traveled to Erie, Pennsylvania to compete in Gannon University’s 35th annual Porreco Cup tournament, and I was there to catch the Griffins in action.
By Bethany Merryman
A&E Editor
The Seton Hill University’s (SHU) men’s basketball team traveled to Erie, Pennsylvania to compete in Gannon University’s 35th annual Porreco Cup tournament, and I was there to catch the Griffins in action.
Senior Andy LoNigro said, “The tournament does prepare us (for the rest of the season), because we aren’t familiar with the teams we play, which gives us more of a challenge.”
The Griffins first challenge was their first round game, against Shippensburg University on Monday, December 29. Putting the SHU fans on edge, the men started with a 16-14 lead in the first half. By the end of the first half, SHU was down 42-29.
After the half, the men battled through and cut the lead to seven points with about eight minutes left in the game. The game ended with the Griffin’s losing 69-50.
Senior Jordan Thomas led the team with 16 points and junior Cody Boone finished off with eight points and 11 rebounds.
LoNigro said the team didn’t execute as well in the first game, but when they focused and played well together they were able to “come out on top.”
Due to the teams loss, the griffins played the consolation game in the Porreco Cup, the following day.
In the consolation game against Caldwell College, SHU won 73-63. At the half, the game was tied at 33.
“In the second game we did a great job of rebounding and taking care of the ball which helped us get the win,” said LoNigro.
Thomas was named to the All Tournament Team and led SHU with 27 points during the game. Following Thomas’ lead, Chris Giles had 26 points and got his first career double double with 14 rebounds to round it out.
When it was all said and done, LoNigro said, “I think we made improvements from our first couple games which gave us some confidence to head into our conference.”