FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's basketball saw a double digit second half lead cut to as little as three before ultimately pulling away to defeat the New Hampshire, 73-60, on Saturday evening at the William H. Pitt Center. The Pioneers shot 52.8 percent (28-53) for the game, including 65 percent (13-20) in the second half, as they move to 6-4 on the year and surpass their win total from the entire 2013-14 campaign. Cane Broome scored both a game and career-high 25 points on 10-11 shooting to lead SHU, while Evan Kelley chipped in with 16. The SHU defense held New Hampshire to 33.8 percent (22-65) shooting form the field, as the Wildcats fall to 6-4. 

Up 35-25 at the break, the Pioneers scored six of the first eight points to take a 41-27 advantage with 18:06 remaining.  After UNH went on a 6-1 to cut the lead back to single digits at 42-33, Sacred Heart scored three straight to regain a twelve-point advantage with 16 minutes left in the game. From there, the Wildcats would go on their largest run of the game, a 10-1 spurt, to get back within three points at 46-43 with 12:48 showing on the clock. During the run, Jaleen Smith scored seven straight for New Hampshire.

SHU responded with a jumper by Broome and a layup by Jordan Allen to push the lead back to seven. After a Smith layup to cut the deficit back to five at 50-45, SHU scored the next 10 to put the Wildcats away for good. The Pioneers went 6-6 from the line during that stretch, and added two dunks by Allen and De'von Barnett. Tevin Falzon ended the run with four straight from the charity stripe to give Sacred Heart a 60-45 advantage with 7:55 left in the game. New Hampshire would get no closer than eleven the remainder of the contest.

Phil Gaetano tallied a game-high seven assists on the night to become just the fourth player in the history of the Northeast Conference to surpass 600 career assists. In the process, he passed Deon Hames of Rider to move into fourth place all time in the conference. He currently sits at 602 for his career, which is one shy of Mount St. Mary's Jeremy Goode for third place.

In addition to Sacred Heart's hot shooting from the field, the Pioneers also went 15-20 (75 percent) from the foul line. SHU also held a 44-30 edge in points in the paint. Falzon had a team-high six rebounds and doubled his career-high in blocks with four.

Three Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Tanner Leissner and Smith, who each had twelve. Iba Camara grabbed a game-high ten rebounds. New Hampshire held a 40-35 edge on the glass and a 17-2 advantage in second chance points, but could not overcome the cold shooting.

The two teams traded baskets early in the contest that saw eight lead changes and three ties in the first 11 minutes of play. Neither team could gain more than a four-point advantage until the Wildcats jumped out to their largest lead of the game at 21-16 on a three-pointer by Matt Miller with 8:49 left before the break. Sacred Heart responded with 13 unanswered over the next 4:21 to take a 29-21 lead with 4:28 on the clock. Six different Pioneers scored a basket over that stretch.

After Daniel Dion hit two free throws to end the run, the Pioneers then surged for six straight to take a 35-23 advantage with 1:48 left. The Wildcats would make the last basket of the half with 1:20 on the clock to cut the deficit to 35-25 going into the locker room. In total, SHU outscored New Hampshire 19-4 over the final 8:49 of the half.

SHU will look for its second three-game winning streak of the season on Tuesday, as the team travels to Rutgers for a 7 pm tip. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network. The Scarlet Knights are 6-5 on the season after falling to Northeast Conference member Saint Francis U, 73-68, earlier today.