Seton Hall basketball player charged with DWI

By SAMANTHA HENRY
Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J.(AP) — A Seton Hall University basketball player has
been suspended indefinitely from the team after police charged
he was under the influence when he drove the wrong way on the
Garden State Parkway and collided with another car.

Keon Lawrence was treated for severe facial cuts, while the
driver of the other car suffered non-life-threatening injuries
in the crash early Monday, police said.

Coach Bobby Gonzalez announced Lawrence’s suspension Tuesday in
a news release, saying he was relieved those involved in the
crash were not more seriously injured.

“We will respond accordingly when all of the facts of this
matter have been collected,” Gonzalez said. “Effective
immediately, Keon Lawrence has been suspended from the team
indefinitely.”

Lawrence scored 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting in Seton Hall’s one
exhibition game this season. He probably would have started in
the Pirates’ season opener against St. Peter’s on Friday night
at the Prudential Center.

New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said the 22-year-old
Lawrence hit another vehicle early Monday after driving the
wrong way on the expressway near Sayreville, N.J.

Jones said police received a call of a motorist driving
erratically in a red Chevy Equinox shortly before the crash.
Lawrence was alone in the Chevy, which was not registered to
him. Police also charged him with driving with a suspended
license.

Police did not know whether Lawrence had retained a lawyer, and
the university declined to comment further. A phone number was
not listed for Lawrence in New Jersey.

Gonzalez’s release said Lawrence had been called the “Human Pogo
Stick” at Weequahic High School in Newark where he was known for
his “acrobatic dunks and athleticism.” As a high school senior,
he was selected First Team All-State in New Jersey and led the
state with 31.2 points per game, the release said. He was the
third player in Essex County to record more than 2,000 career
points, the release said.

The junior guard transferred from the University of Missouri to
Seton Hall in 2008. He was ineligible to play last season per
NCAA regulations, but he practiced with the team.

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