MARISSA AMENDOLIA/THE HOYA
Senior guard Chris Wright, shown at Rutgers on Saturday, scored 17 points against Seton Hall.

It was a tale of two halves for the Hoyas, but at the end of a two-game New Jersey road trip, Georgetown did just enough to put together its first winning streak since Dec. 23.

After leading by seven at the break and by as many as 10 in the second half, the Hoyas (14-5, 3-4 Big East) overcame a seven-point deficit in the final 7:02 to escape the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with an 80-75 victory over Seton Hall (8-11, 2-5 Big East) on Tuesday night. Senior guard Austin Freeman led the way with 28 points on a blistering 10-of-13 shooting and senior guard Chris Wright had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Shooting close to 60 percent before halftime, the Hoyas finished at 52.7 percent from the field, including 6-of-17 from three. The Pirates, on the other hand, were below 40 percent in the first half but ended up at 45.6 percent for the game. While Seton Hall outmanned Georgetown 13-10 on the offensive glass, the Hoyas won the rebounding battle 33-31 and assisted on 18 of their 29 makes.

After letting the Pirates stay in the game for the majority of the first half, the Hoyas built a comfortable lead going into the locker room thanks to a Freeman 8-2 run on two three-pointers and a mid-range jumper. In the first 20 minutes, he had 16 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor, and senior forward Julian Vaughn, who finished with 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks, had one of his stronger halves of the season with six points and three rejections.

But following their business-like first half, the Hoyas came out flat and lackadaisical after halftime and found themselves down seven after the fast-breaking Pirates opened the final period on a 21-7 run, which included a 19-2 spurt, thanks to the play of guards Jeremy Hazell (15 points) and Jordan Theodore (17 points, six assists) and forward Jeff Robinson (21 points, seven boards). In all, the Hoyas also did not help their cause by turning it over 13 times in the game.

The turning point in the ballgame came at the 6:54 mark with Georgetown trailing 63-56. Sophomore forward Hollis Thompson, who ended up with 14 points, got his own rebound on a missed three-pointer and was fouled on a made jumper just outside the lane. Thompson missed the free throw, but freshman forward Nate Lubick came up with the offensive board and put-back to give the Hoyas a four-point possession and the momentum.

Down 73-69 with 2:10 to go, the Hoyas caught a significant break when forward Herb Pope, a thorn in the Hoyas’ side all night, fouled out. From the time he went to the bench until the final buzzer, Georgetown went on a game-sealing 11-2 run. Still, trailing by three the Pirates had an open look from the corner that looked like it might tie it with 11 seconds left, but Theodore had his right foot on the three-point line, the Hoyas made their free throws and by the skin of their teeth, moved to 3-4 in the Big East.

Georgetown now has a week off before returning to Verizon Center for a home date with St. John’s next Wednesday at 7 p.m.