Prince Aligbe and Dylan Addae-Wusu set respective season highs of 19 and 12 points and host Seton Hall pulled away for a much-needed 67-56 win over NJIT on Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.
Garwey Dual’s 11 points also marked a season best and Isaiah Coleman netted all nine of his points in the second half for the Pirates (5-4), who previously lost to Fordham, Hofstra, Vanderbilt and Monmouth and had trouble putting Wednesday’s game to bed.
Aligbe shot 9-for-12 from the field and added a game-high eight rebounds.
Tariq Francis posted a game-high 23 points to lead NJIT (1-9). His five made 3-pointers on 12 attempts were more than Seton Hall made as a team (4-of-15 shooting).
Sebastian Robinson and Tim Moore Jr. scored nine points apiece for the Highlanders.
Seton Hall raced out to a 16-2 lead and made nine of its first 12 shots from the floor. It took some time for NJIT to warm up, but Francis (3-pointer, jumper) and Robinson (layup) combined to score on three straight possessions to bring NJIT within 23-15.
Addae-Wusu and Chaunce Jenkins knocked down triples one minute apart to give Seton Hall its largest lead at 33-18 with 5:14 left in the first half.
That’s when the Pirates froze up, missing seven of their last eight shots of the half while NJIT converted six of its last seven to storm within 35-31 at the break.
NJIT twice cut the margin to two, the latter instance coming when Francis buried his fifth 3-pointer with 10:29 left. The Pirates responded with an 8-0 run to go ahead 55-45. Addae-Wusu made a tough pass on the drive to Aligbe, who fed Isaiah Coleman for a 3-pointer to cap the run.
The Highlanders sliced that deficit in half, but Addae-Wusu barreled up the court for a fastbreak layup. Aligbe added a fastbreak dunk with 3:29 to go to make it a 12-point game.
–Field Level Media
