Seton Hall vs. Long Beach State: 49ers knock off Pirates in Gildan Charleston Classic

Seton Hall won't be bringing home their second straight preseason tournament title.

After winning the Paradise Jam last season, the Pirates have been eliminated from the Gildan Charleston Classic already after a 80-77 loss to the Long Beach State 49ers.

It was also Seton Hall's first loss of the young season.

Here are the three things we learned in the Pirates' defeat.

Long Beach State Shot the Lights Out

Long Beach State, in their upset win over BYU earlier in the week, the 49ers scored 66 points and shot 31% from the field.

Tonight, in their win over Seton Hall, the 49ers scored 80 points, and shot 55% from the field.

The 49ers were lead by a three-headed monster. Guard Nick Faust had 16 points, including four threes. Forward Travis Hammonds had 14 points on 5-6 shooting, and forward Roschon Prince had 12 points on 5-8 shooting.

When three players are able to account for nearly half of your total points, you're generally going to be a successful team.

Seton Hall Never Quit

At one point in the second half, the Pirates trailed by 16.

They lost by three.

Think back to Seton Hall last season. If they got down by 16 points in a game, they would have lost said game by 30.

Even though the Pirates weren't able to pull out the victory tonight, it's a big step for the program moving forward that they compete until the final whistle.

However, when you're down by one point with six seconds to go and the opponents are shooting a one-and-one, you have to box the shooter out. Seton Hall didn't, Travis Hammonds got his own rebound, was fouled again, and hit both free throws.

Isaiah Whitehead led all scorers with 21 points, and Ish Sanogo continued his impressive season with seven points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and four blocks.

What's next?

Seton Hall will face the loser of the Virginia/Bradley (on ESPN2 at 9:30 PM ET) game tomorrow afternoon in Charleston.

Virginia is coming off an upset loss to the George Washington Colonels. They're ranked sixth in the country and are 22.5 point favorites over Bradley.

Bradley beat Ball State in their season opener last week, and then went to Arizona and lost by a score of 90-60. Three Bradley players fouled out in that game, as they recorded 35 team fouls and sent Arizona to the line 52 times.

To summarize, if Seton Hall faces Bradley, which, let's face it, is probably going to happen, they should look to draw contact against the Braves.

They also should be able to control the pace and tempo against Bradley, who have 10 freshmen on the roster.