Jordan Forbes eclipsed the 30-point mark for the second straight game with 33 points and Salem University broke away from a tie game early in the second half for an 86-71 victory over Seton Hill University in NCAA Division II men's basketball Sunday at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium. The win is the Tigers' third in a row.
 
Salem (4-3) saw a 13-point first-half cut to a field goal at halftime and Seton Hill (1-4) tied the game 44-44 on its initial possession of the second half. Marko Tutunovic hit 4-of-4 free throws during a tie-breaking 8-0 run and the Tigers led the remainder of the contest.
 
The margin returned to double figures when Malique Ross lobbed to Forbes for an alley-oop dunk to give the Tigers a 58-48 lead with 13:39 left in the contest. Seton Hill got as close as five, but a Ralph Diaz steal led to a driving dunk by Forbes, who completed the three-point play to build the lead back to 10 at 63-53.
 
Fonz Hale connected on a pair of three-pointers during a game-breaking 17-5 run as Salem took its biggest lead of the game at 85-64 with 2:33 remaining.
 
In the first half, Forbes' three-pointer broke a 3-3 tie and Diaz scored the final five points of a 16-4 run to give Salem a 22-9 lead with 11:35 left before halftime. Seton Hill rallied to cut the margin to single digits and Jimmy Moon's three-pointer pulled the Griffins within 44-42 at the break.
 
Forbes, who scored 31 points in Wednesday's victory over Ohio Valley University, was 12-for-19 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. As a team, Salem hit each of its first 17 free throw attempts and finished 18-for-19 from the line.
 
The Tigers placed five players in double figures as Hale scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half. Ross, Tutunovic and Stan Smith added 11 points each.
 
Moon led Seton Hill with 25 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Nathan Davis added 20 points.
 
Sunday's game marked the Tigers' final men's basketball home contest until after the first of the year. Salem plays the first of seven consecutive away games Wednesday as the Tigers travel to Amherst, N.Y., to take on Daemen College. Tip-off is 7 p.m.