At halftime in their NIT second round game, Seton Hall trails the University of Massachusetts 36-30.
The Pirates struggled through the first half of play shooting the ball going 12-33 from the field for 36 percent while shooting 3-13 beyond the arc. The Minutemen meanwhile have shot 12-27 from the floor and 10-14 from the free throw line.
Rebounding has also been a problem for the Hall for the second straight game as Massachusetts is outrebounding the Pirates 25 to 13 including a six to four edge on the offensive glass.
The Pirates started the game getting two free throws from sophomore Patrik Auda. Massachusetts took the 6-4 lead with a layup from Raphiael Putney. Seton Hall then took their biggest lead of the half at 12-8 on a 3-pointer from senior Jordan Theodore.
The Minutemen responded to Theodore's basket by going on a 9-0 run, taking a 17-12 lead. Massachusetts would slowly extend their lead to 34-22, their largest lead of the half, with 3:37 remaining on sophomore Chaz Williams making one of two free throws.
Over the final 3:37 of the half, the Pirates outscored the Minutemen 8-2 with sophomore Fuquan Edwin scoring six of the Hall's points in that span to reduce their halftime deficit to six.
Edwin led all players in the half with 10 points while freshman Maxie Esho led Massachusetts with nine points.
Stephen Valenti can be reached at Stephen.valenti@student.shu.edu
