Boxscore

NEWARK, N.J. -- The University of Delaware men’s basketball team built an 11-point lead in each half, but Seton Hall used an 18-4 run early in the second period and held on in the final seconds as the Pirates posted a 75-70 victory over the Blue Hens Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center.

Delaware, which fell to 2-4 on the season, trailed by three points and had possession of the ball with a chance to tie, but three-pointers by Jawan Carter and Edwin Santiago were off the mark. Seton Hall’s Jordan Theodore hit two free throws with one-tenth of a second remaining to account for the five-point margin.

Delaware, which dropped to 0-6 all-time against Big East opponents and 0-2 this season, received team-highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds from senior Marc Egerson (at right), who recorded his fifth double-double in six games this year. Senior forward Jim Ledsome recorded his first career double-double with a season-high 13 points to go with a career-best 10 boards.

The Pirates, coming off a third place finish at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off last week when they defeated No. 19 USC and Virginia Tech, improved to 5-1 on the year. Jeremy Hazell, the current Big East Player of the Week, scored a team-high 17 points while Eugene Harvey added 15. John Garcia and Theodore each chipped in 13 points, season-highs for both players.

Delaware took a 38-31 lead into the break, its first halftime lead of the season, and opened the second period on a 7-3 spurt to go up 45-34 on a layup by Alphonso Dawson with 18 minutes to play.

However an 18-4 run for Seton Hall, capped by six points from Harvey and a three-pointer by Paul Gause, gave the Pirates their first lead of the game at 52-49 with 11:52 to play. Egerson answered with a free throw for Delaware, but Hazell converted a three-point play to put the Pirates up 55-50 with 10:54 remaining.

The Seton Hall lead stayed between two and five points over next three minutes, and the Pirates were still up 62-57 when Brian Johnson drained a three-pointer to pull UD within two with six and a half minutes to go. SHU went back up five after three free throws by Hazell, but Egerson hit two foul shots and drained a three-pointer to tie game at 67-67 with 4:10 left.

Garcia and Hazell each hit one of two free throws to give the Pirates a 69-67 advantage with 2:15 to play, but Egerson then nailed one of two free throws with 1:32 left to make it a one-point game. However Harvey converted a driving layup with 1:14 remaining, and after a Delaware turnover, Garcia made one of two free throws with 48 seconds remaining to put Seton Hall up four. Egerson scored a layup to make it 72-70 with 14.6 seconds left, and after Theodore made his first free throw attempt but missed his second, the Blue Hens had a chance to tie.

However Carter missed a three-point attempt, and after D.J. Boney corralled the offensive rebound, Santiago’s three-point attempt fell short.

“I thought it was a well-played basketball game on both ends,” third-year Delaware head coach Monté Ross said. “It was an exciting, back-and-forth game. I’m very happy with the way our kids responded; we’re a young team playing in a hostile environment, and to take a lead and withstand their charge was impressive. There are no moral victories, but we were much better today than in our previous game.”

Carter finished with 17 points and a career-high five assists, Dawson contributed 13 points, and Johnson had seven points and four assists for Delaware, which did not receive any bench points. The Blue Hens did post a 40-30 rebounding advantage, their first of the season, over the Pirates while limiting Seton Hall to 43.1 percent shooting including 6 of 22 from three-point range.

Delaware rolled out of the gate with an 11-0 run including five points from Dawson and Carter, holding the Pirates scoreless over the first four minutes and 40 seconds. Seton Hall answered with seven straight points but the Blue Hens maintained their advantage, going up 20-11 at the 10:25 mark on a Dawson jumper.

The Pirates twice pulled within two points but UD answered with six consecutive points, and a driving layup by Johnson at the 1:26 mark put the Blue Hens up 36-27 with 1:26 remaining in the first half.

Delaware returns home Wednesday to host Central Connecticut at 7 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.