Sacred Heart
5-4
Mitchell
1-5
Pioneers Roll Past Mitchell, 104-68
12/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team defeated in-state foe Mitchell, 104-68, on Sunday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center to move to 5-4 on the year. Five Pioneers scored in double figures as SHU shot 60.3 percent (41-68) and dished out 27 assists. It was the first time SHU has shot sixty percent in a game since January 24, 2013 and the first time it scored 100 points since November 13, 2013, when it scored 118 in a double OT loss to Holy Cross. Leading the way was Evan Kelley, who scored all 21 of his points in the first half. Jordan Allen added 19 to surpass his career high and had a perfect shooting night, going 7-7 from the floor and 5-5 from the line. Mitchell's Parris Hill scored a game-high 25 points in the loss, as the Mariners drop to 1-5 to start the season.
SHU started the game outscoring the Mariners 14-4 just 4:16 in. The Mariners would cut it to single digits twice over the next 42 seconds, but a three-point basket by Cane Broome to make the score 19-9 with 14:41 remaining marked the last time the lead would be single digits. That basket would be the beginning of an 18-6 spurt over the next 4:45 to stretch the lead out to 20 at 34-14, with 9:56 on the clock.
Sacred Heart's largest first half lead came with 7:09 remaining, after De'von Barnett made a foul shot to increase the lead to 43-22. The Mariners answered with a 15-9 advantage over the next 4:04 to get within 15, the closest they would get, at 52-37 just 3:03 before the break. A foul shot by Kelley with 1:06 left gave the Pioneers a 57-39 advantage going into the locker room.
Joining Kelley and Allen in double figures was Broome, Tevin Falzon, and Filip Nowicki. Falzon and Nowicki both registered season-highs with 14 and 10, respectively. Falzon added a game-high eight rebounds.
Sacred Heart outscored the Mariners 66-26 in the paint, 25-6 off of turnovers, and 26-6 in the fastbreak. The Pioneer bench also held a 47-12 advantage. SHU's defense forced 19 turnovers and held Mitchell to 41 percent shooting, including 18.2 percent from three-point range. Sacred Heart outrebounded the Mariners, 42-29.
The Pioneer lead reached a game-high 45 at 91-46 when Nowicki scored four straight to cap 13 unanswered points for SHU with 9:23 remaining in the game. The spurt was part of a 34-7 advantage to open the second half, including a 24-1 edge after Mitchell got within 22 at 67-45 with 16:29 remaining.
With a game-high seven assists, Phil Gaetano passed Napoleon Lightning to move into fifth place on the All-Time NEC Assist List. He currently is one assist shy of fourth place, with 595 for his career. Steve Glowiak made a three-point basket in the second half to move past Luke Granato into sixth place on SHU's All-Time 3 Pt. FG List. The 36 point margin was the first thirty point victory for the Pioneers since defeating Central Connecticut State by 34 on February 19, 2009.
Sacred Heart will be back in the Pitt Center on Saturday, when it hosts New Hampshire for a 5 pm tip. SHU will be looking to extend its home winning streak to four. Last season, the Pioneers defeated the Wildcats, 66-53. New Hampshire is 6-3 to start the season after defeating Colgate, 63-57, on Sunday.
