It was hard for John Dunne to spin a positive light on a 20-point loss to the cross-state Catholic school rival in Seton Hall, but the St. Peter’s College head basketball coach tried his best after his Peacocks dropped a 69-49 decision at the Prudential Center Monday night.
It was the fifth game in a week for the weary Peacocks, who played three games in as many nights at the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a tourney where the Peacocks secured an improbable 50-49 win over the University of Alabama.
After playing in the Virgin Islands, the Peacocks came home to defeat Long Island University, then had to face the Pirates two days later.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Seton Hall, but yeah, we had some tired legs out there,” Dunne said after the game. “We didn’t have our full focus and that was uncharacteristic of us.”
The Peacocks also shot very poorly from the floor, misfiring on 19 of their first 23 shots.
“We missed a lot of open looks,” Dunne said. “We had good shots. We just missed them. They’re a good team. They played good defense against us. They’re bigger, stronger and more physical than we are and they took advantage of that.”
But shed no tears for the Peacocks, because despite their 2-4 record at the present, they will be a contender in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season. They have a veteran team returning, with people like guard Nick Leon, solid forward Ryan Bacon, and quick slasher Jeron Belin.
Leon averaged 13 points per game last season, while Bacon averaged 10 points and nine rebounds and Belin averaged a little more than eight points per game. That’s a lot of offensive firepower to have coming back, giving Peacock fans hope for a solid season.
More importantly, the Peacocks welcomed back senior guard Wesley Jenkins to the fold for the game against LIU.
Jenkins suffered a serious knee injury over the summer and it was believed that the injury was bad enough to require reconstructive surgery.
But Jenkins, who averaged 13.8 points and 5.2 rebounds last year, leading the team in scoring, worked diligently in rehabilitating the knee and he made a remarkable return against LIU, scoring 13 points in 29 minutes.
“He’s fully healed,” Dunne said of Jenkins. “He didn’t need surgery. He just has to play through the discomfort ad have some pain and soreness. But he’ll be fine. He’s not in game shape yet and maybe I played him a little more than I would have liked to against LIU. But he’s going to be fine.”
However, Jenkins appeared sluggish against Seton Hall, scoring only three points.
“You can see he’s not the same player yet, but having him with us is big,” Dunne said. “He just has to build himself back into shape.”
Jenkins is playing without any brace whatsoever. It’s almost like a medical marvel.
Dunne is convinced that this is a team that will improve on the 16-14 record it posted a year ago.
“Our plan is always to push the ball and see if we can make shots,” Dunne said. “Our goal is to win the MAAC Championship. Maybe we can look back at this game later on as a game that helped to build us. The Alabama game was a nice win, but we didn’t have time to dwell on that one at all. We just have to keep moving forward.”
Having Jenkins back and contributing is a huge boost. It appeared as if he was not going to help at all.
“It’s going to take some time,” Dunne said. “We’re going to be fine.”
When the Peacocks begin play inside the MAAC, they should be a solid contender. This is Dunne’s team and they have a veteran squad. It’s a year that there should be better results at Harvard on the Boulevard. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.