SHU Hosts Holy Cross For First Time Since 122-118 2OT Thriller
12/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Setting the Scene... The Sacred Heart University men's basketball carries a two game winning streak into a 3:30 PM tip against the Holy Cross Crusaders at the William H. Pitt Center on Saturday afternoon.
Last Time Out... Trailing by one point with 6 seconds remaining, Phil Gaetano found Jordan Allen for a wide open dunk off of an inbound play in what would prove to be the game-winning basket, as the Sacred Heart men's basketball team won its second straight game to move to 3-3 on the year. De'von Barnett blocked the ensuing Colgate attempt at the buzzer to preserve a 71-70 win. Cane Broome led the Pioneers with a season high 21 points, while Allen added 14, also a season-high.
Series History... For the first time since the season opener vs. Hartford, Sacred Heart will be meeting an opponent it has played before. The Pioneers are 4-6 all-time against Holy Cross, going 3-1 in home games. The teams most recently met last season in a thrilling, 122-118, double overtime game won by the Crusaders in Worcester. The first meeting came while Sacred Heart Sacred Heart was still a Division II program. Holy cross was victorious, 55-52. The Crusaders are currently on a three game winning streak, defeating the Pioneers in each of the last three seasons, including an 83-78 win in on December 5, 2012 for their only win in the Pitt Center. Sacred Heart's last win over Holy Cross came January 2, 2011 by a final of 77-75.
Last Meeting... Evan Kelley scored a career-high 32 points and Steve Glowiak added a career-high 28 but the Sacred Heart men's basketball team fell in double overtime 122-118 to the Holy Cross Crusaders at the Hart Center on November 13, 2013. Holy Cross forward Cullen Hamilton paced the Crusaders with 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting and center Dave Dudzinski added 26 points, including the game-tying three-point play with 3.3 seconds left in regulation.
Career Highs Set Last Season vs. Holy Cross...
Evan Kelley - Points (32), FG Made (12), FG Attempted (24), Rebounds (8), Steals (4), Minutes (43)
Eyimofe Edukugho - Points (8), FG Made (3), FT Made (2)
Steve Glowiak - Points (28)
Tevin Falzon - Minutes (30)
All-Time vs. Patriot League... With the win over Colgate on Wednesday, Sacred Heart is 13-16 all-time vs. current Patriot League members, and 12-15 in the Division I era. Its only meeting against Loyola came in the Division II era, as well as one of its meetings versus Holy Cross. The Pioneers also snapped a six game losing streak against Patriot League with the win on Wednesday. SHU had previously gone 0-3 in each of the last two years against Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh. SHU's last win against a PL member had been December 11, 2011, when it beat Lafayette, 84-79.
All-Time Records vs. Patriot League Teams
Army 3-3 Lehigh 2-4
Holy Cross 4-6 Loyola 1-0
Lafayette 2-3 Colgate 1-0
Scouting Holy Cross... Holy Cross enters Saturday's contest with a 4-1 record, with the only lost coming at Syracuse. The Crusaders most recently defeated Albany, 74-57, on Wednesday night. They come in shooting 45.8 percent, including 38.3 percent on three-pointers. Holy Cross boasts a +6.2 turnover margin, as they average 12.4 steals per game. The Crusaders have four averaging double digits, led by Malcolm Miller at 12 per game. Justin Burrell adds 10.6 and is the leading assist man at 5.2 per game. Burrell also ties for the team lead in steals at 13 with Anthony Thompson, who averages 10 points per contest on a team-high 1.8 three-pointers per game. The fourth double-digit scorer is Eric Green, averaging 10.2. Malachi Alexander is the leading rebounder at 4.6 per game.
Career Numbers vs. Holy Cross...
NAME (GP) PPG RPG APG MPG
Phil Gaetano (3) 4.7 2 5 25.7
Steve Glowiak (3) 14.7 3 1.7 25.3
Evan Kelley (3) 17 4 1.7 33.7
Tevin Falzon (2) 3 4 0.5 21
Cole Walton (1) - - - 11
Eyimofe Edukugho (1) 8 2 1 10
Looking for Three Straight... Coming off a win Wednesday, SHU will be looking to win three straight games for the first time since January 19-26, 2013, when it won three straight over Saint Francis U, Bryant, and Monmouth. The wins over Bryant and Monmouth on January 24 and 26 were also the last time Sacred Heart has won consecutive games at home.
Winning in the Pitt... The win at the William H. Pitt Center last Sunday over Campbell snapped a five game losing streak at the venue. The Pioneers were 1-15 in their previous 16 at the Pitt, with the win coming last year on January 11 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, 71-67. The 1 win this season matches their total home wins from all of last year.
Third Win of the Season... Sacred Heart won its third game of the season on Wednesday in the sixth game of the year. The third win this season comes more than a month earlier than the third win last campaign. The Pioneers won their third game in 15th game of the season on January 4.
Trailing at the Half ... SHU trailed Colgate 37-35 at the half on Wednesday before coming back to win. That occurred only once last season, in the January 11 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Pioneers trailed by 6 in that contest. Sacred Heart had lost 30 of the last 31 times it had trailed at the break.
Outshooting the Opponent... The Pioneers are 3-0 when they have a higher shooting percentage than the opponent this season, and 0-3 when they have a lower shooting percentage.
Outrebounded but Winning... After outrebounding opponents in the first two games of the season, the Pioneers have been outrebounded in the past four contests, including 18 on Wednesday at Colgate. Those 18 rebounds were the largest deficit in a win since being outrebounded by 22 in a 68-61 win over Iona on November 15, 2006.
