Seton Hall escaped with a 68-61 victory vs. Wagner on Friday night from South Orange, N.J.
Stephon Payne III was instrumental for Seton Hall (2-0) in the second half on both ends of the court. Payne had an emphatic two-handed block with just under a minute left in the game.
Wagner (0-2) hung around until late but missed three of its last four free-throw attempts with under 35 seconds remaining to stymie any chance for a comeback. John Awoke finished with six 3-pointers in the loss for Wagner.
After Zavier Fitch and Awoke sank 3-pointers to reduce Wagner’s deficit to 62-58, Adam Clark made two free throws to put Seton Hall up by six.
Earlier, a Clark steal and coast-to-coast layup extended Seton Hall’s lead to 60-52.
Payne denied Bineal Basil at the rim and on the next possession scored on a dunk to make it 50-44 for Seton Hall. A slam by Tajuan Simpkins extended the Pirates’ advantage to 46-42 with 12:28 to go.
An Awoke wing 3-pointer in transition from Fitch trimmed Seton Hall’s lead to 40-37.
Prior to that, AJ Staton-McCray made a 3-pointer on an assist from Clark to put Seton Hall back ahead 37-34. Seton Hall followed that up on defense by forcing a 10-second violation in the backcourt. Fisher then drained a corner 3-pointer on a pass from Clark to put Seton Hall ahead by six.
Wagner led 31-30 at the end of a low-scoring but energetic first half. The Seahawks stymied the Pirates into 38.5% shooting while Wagner converted 12 of its first 22 field-goal attempts.
Seton Hall led by as many as nine in the first half and trailed at halftime despite having triple the amount of free throws as Wagner. However, the Pirates missed five of their 12 first-half free throws.
Pirates freshman Najai Hines had an understated outing after an impressive debut vs. Saint Peter’s (12 points, nine rebounds, six blocks).
