Box Score

NEWARK, NJ—Ahead by three points at halftime, Seton Hall held NJIT to just two points through the first 7:46 of second half and the host Pirates went on to outscore the Highlanders in the second half, 40-27, for a 71-55 final in a late game Tuesday night in the Prudential Center downtown.
 
Seton Hall, with 3 wins in a row, upped its season record to 7-3, while NJIT, which had won its previous two contests, dropped to 6-5 with the defeat.
 
The victorious Pirates put four of their five starters in double-figure scoring, headed by junior Brandon Mobley's game-high and personal season-high 18 points. He scored 11 of his points in the second half, helping Seton Hall pull away from the Highlanders. Mobley, who is 6-foot-9, also blocked a game-best 3 shots.
 
Freshman Jaren Sina, a 3-time  New Jersey all-state player  rated as a Top 100 player in the national Class of 2013, added a college career-best 17 points for the Pirates. Sophomore guard Sterling Gibbs matched his season scoring average of 16 points and 6-foot-9, 270-pound senior Eugene Teague powered his way to his third consecutive double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds along with 11 points
 
NJIT, which lost its fifth-consecutive game against Seton Hall in what has become an annual series, had one double-figure scorer, freshman Damon Lynn, who finished with 16 points, 12 coming on four made 3-point shots.
 
Another freshman, Tim Coleman, paced NJIT in rebounds, with 7, as the Highlanders were beaten off the boards by the much bigger Pirates, 34-25, including 17-10 in the second half.
 
In addition to the decided edge in rebounding, Seton Hall's size advantage was apparent in other areas, as well. The points in the paint favored the Pirates, 26-16, and the winners also rejected 6 NJIT shots.
 
The two starting forwards or NJIT on Tuesday night were kept below their typical performance. Terrence Smith, the top post scorer on the season for NJIT at 13.6 points per game, was swarmed when he got the ball and took just three shots, making two. He was also limited to 23 minutes' action by foul trouble, as he tried to guard the bigger Pirates on the other end of the floor.
 
And Coleman, coming back-to-back 13-point scoring games, managed to shoot 1-for-7 from the field, but salvaged an 8-point night thanks to 6-for-7 shooting at the foul line, where he is 26-for-33 (76 percent) for the season.
 
With regular starters Fuquan Edwin (13.8 points per game) and Patrik Auda (12 ppg) sidelined by injury, others moved up the Seton Hall depth chart. NJIT, which usually gets good from its reserves, anyway, outscored the Seton Hall bench, 18-9, led by 8 points for Nigel Sydnor, all of which came in the opening half.
 
With the game scheduled for a 9 pm start to accommodate national television coverage on FOX Sports 1, the game was delayed until 9:12 pm by the preceding televised game.
 
Undeterred, NJIT opened the game on fire, making its first four shots, including 3-pointers by three different shooters for an 11-4 lead just 2:05 into the game.
 
Leading by as many as 8 points, 17-9 after Sydnor's 3-pointer with 11:20 left in the opening half, NJIT stayed in the lead until a Mobley triple for The Hall, tied the score at 21 apiece with 6:28 left.
 
After another tie, the Pirates took their first lead, 26-23, on a traditional 3-point play for Gibbs at the 4:58 mark. Stretching its advantage to 6 points late in the opening half, SHU settled for a 31-28 advantage at the break after Winfield Willis hit a three for NJIT with 34 seconds left and Mobley's 3-point try misfired with six seconds on the first-half clock.
 
Sydnor's 8 points were game-high for the Highlanders at the intermission, followed by 7 for Lynn and 6 for Willis. Three Pirates—Mobley, Teague, and Gibbs—had 7 points each.
 
The painfully slow scoring start to the second half, a near total reversal of the way things went to open the game, put the Highlanders in a jam they never escaped.
 
Seton Hall missed its first two shots and NJIT's Smith scored a layup with 18:02 left to pull the Highlanders back within a point of the lead.
 
However. Sina answered for Seton Hall with a shot from downtown 31 seconds later, triggering a 12-0 Seton Hall run before NJIT's Lynn hit a three at the 12:14 mark, breaking a drought of nearly six minutes that helped the Pirates build a 43-30 lead.
 
The Highlanders whittled the deficit to as few as 8 points, but Seton Hall was up 53-42 after a pair of Sina foul shots with 7:34 left.
 
However, Smith hit a jumpert and Coleman made four straight foul shots, trimming the Highlanders' deficit to a workable 53-48 with 5:15 on the clock.
 
Then the momentum shifted, snuffing out NJIT's comeback.
 
First, Teague powered his way for a dunk and then stole the ball on the ensuing Highlanders' possession. The big man, who picked off the ball not far from the basket, sent a pass ahead to an open Gibbs, who was poised to score a layup before he was fouled by Montana Mayfield, who had gotten between Gibbs and the basket and fouled the Pirate on the shoulders to prevent the layup..
 
After reviewing the video, the officials awarded Gibbs two foul shots, which weren't in question. But they also ruled that Mayfield's foul warranted s awarding possession back to Seton Hall immediately after the two Gibbs free throws.
 
Gibbs made one foul shot and Mobley scored on the ensuing possession, putting Seton Hall back on top by double-digits, 58-48, 58 seconds after Coleman's foul shots had closed the gap to 5.
 
Having regained control, Seton Hall scored the next 5 points and eventually outscored the Highlanders 18-7 over the last 4:58.
 
NJIT will move on quickly, hosting LIU Brooklyn on Thursday at 7 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
 The Blackbirds, 3-time defending Northeast Conference champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier, are off to a 2-6 start this season, having won their two home games and lost their four away games and two neutral-site contests. Like NJIT, LIU Brooklyn lost to Seton Hall in the Prudential Center. In fact, the Blackbirds fell to the Pirates, 92-81, five days ahead of Seton Hall's win over the Highlanders Tuesday night..