DePaul edges Seton Hall in wild finish 66-65

NEW YORK - Umoja Gibson made three free throws with 3.9 seconds left and Nick Ongenda blocked a layup at the buzzer to give DePaul a 66-65 win over Seton Hall on Wednesday in the first round of the Big East Tournament.

The 10-seed Blue Devils will face second-seeded Xavier in Thursday’s semifinals.

After Gibson gave DePaul the lead, Seton Hall’s Femi Odukale drove the length of the floor but had his layup at the buzzer blocked from behind by Ongenda. Initially, the block was ruled to be goaltending. But after a review the officials reversed their decision and DePaul had the win, snapping a 12-game losing streak.

Javan Johnson hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Blue Demons (10-22). Ongenda scored 15 points and blocked four shots. Jalen Terry made all four of his 3-point tries and had 14 points and Gibson finished with 10.

Tyrese Samuel scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds for the seven-seed Pirates (18-15). KC Ndefo added 14 points, Al-Amir Dawes 12 and Jamir Harris 10.

DePaul led 32-28 at halftime. Seton Hall grabbed the lead with 15 minutes left in the game and led after that until Gibson’s free throws.