Seton Hall vs. Fairfield Preview

Published: Sunday, November 9, 2025

by Darron Rosborough

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall Pirates (2-0) will once again host another contest inside Walsh Gymnasium on Monday night against the Fairfield Stags (1-1).

The Pirates are coming off a very well-fought-out victory after they took down the Wagner Seahawks 68-61, which featured an intense last two minutes of regulation. Wagner made a strong push when they cut the deficit to four, but the Pirates quickly ended the surge when they converted on their free throw attempts.

Elijah Fisher shined the brightest for the Pirates, who scored 21 points, while earning six rebounds, and one steal while shooting 8-14 from the field. He was accompanied by Tajuan Simpkins who scored 15 points and earned four rebounds, going 5-6 from the field while draining three three-point shots. 

The Pirates will now look to extend their winning streak to three when they take on the Fairfield Stags for the first time since December 22nd, 1980, a game Seton Hall won by a score of 65-63. 

The Stags finished last season with a 12-20 record, while also going 8-12 record in MAAC conference play. 

Fairfield is coming off a win this past Friday night versus NJIT, as they won handily, 74-53. The stars of the night were Braden Sparks and Declan Wucherpfennig, who scored 14 a piece. Sparks went 3-5 from the field while adding two steals, while Wucherpfennig went 5-13 from the field and cashed in on 50% of his free throw attempts. 

Fairfield recovered a grand total of 54 rebounds vs the Highlanders, with Brandon Benjamin and Isaac Munkadi leading the team with nine rebounds each. This is the most rebounds the team has had in history against a D1 opponent since their game against American University on November 10th, 2006. 

Early in the matchup, the Stags trailed by eight points, but the team quickly turned things around, scoring eight straight with the help of Tony Williams and Michael Rogan both draining their shots from the three-point line. 

The game came to a tie at 29 later in the contest, but the Stags were able to secure the lead for the rest of the game when Sparks knocked down a three pointer.

The Pirates shot 50% from the charity stripe against Wagner, which will be something that they will need to improve on.  Additionally, this will also be a game where players like Najee Hines and Stephon Payne could shine the brightest against a team who loves to attack the paint. 

After a nail-biting game on Friday night, the Pirates will be back in action on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with Ryan Nelke and AJ Rayer on the call.  You can catch all of the action on 89.5 FM WSOU. 

Darron Rosborough can be reached at darron.rosborough@student.shu.edu.

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