Pioneers Travel to Lafayette Looking for First Four Game Winning Streak Since 2009
12/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Setting the Scene... The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team looks to extend its winning streak to four, as it travels to Easton, Penn. on Monday night for a 7 PM tip against its third straight Patriot League opponent, Lafayette.
Last Time Out... Cane Broome registered career highs in both points and rebounds as the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team won its third straight game by defeating Holy Cross, 81-68, on Saturday afternoon in the William H. Pitt Center. The freshman was one rebound shy of a double double as he scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. SHU shot 55.1 percent from the field, while limiting the Crusaders to 32.4 percent to move to 4-3 on the year.
Series History... The Pioneers and Leopards have met five times, all over the last five years. Lafayette leads the all-time series 3-2 and is currently on a two-game winning streak, including a 86-79 victory at the William H. Pitt Center last season. It was the first loss for SHU at home to leopards. The first meeting came on November 15, 2009, with SHU prevailing 81-70 in Fairfield. Sacred Heart is 0-2 all time at the Kirby Sports Center.
November 14, 2009 at SHU - Won 81-70
December 6, 2010 at Lafayette - Lost 76-71
December 11, 2011 at SHU - Won 84-79
December 9, 2012 at Lafayette - Lost 72-70
December 7, 2013 at SHU - Lost 86-79
Last Meeting... Despite 15 points from both Chris Evans and Evan Kelley, the Sacred Heart men's basketball team could not hold off Lafayette, falling to the Leopards 86-79 on December 7, 2013 at the Pitt Center. Freshman Nick Lindner led the way for Lafayette with 24 points, five assists, and two steals, while leading scorer Seth Hinrichs added 17 points and 8 rebounds. SHU took its second five-point lead of the game at 67-62 with 9:28 remaining in the second half. Tied at 69, Lafayette slowly regained control of the game, finishing the final 7:01 on a 17-10 run.
All-Time vs. Patriot League... With the back to back wins over Colgate and Holy Cross last week, Sacred Heart is now 14-16 all-time vs. current Patriot League members, and 13-15 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. With the win at Colgate last Wednesday, the Pioneers snapped a six game losing streak against Patriot League foes. 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 5-6 Loyola 1-0
Lafayette 2-3 Colgate 1-0
Scouting Lafayette... The Leopards will enter Monday night with a 5-2 record after winning their last two games. They are 2-0 against the Northeast most recently defeated fellow Northeast Conference member Wagner, 97-84, on Saturday afternoon.Lafayette has a 3-0 record against the Northeast Conference this season, as they also defeated Robert Morris, 77-50, in the season opener and, Fairleigh Dickinson, 82-61, before their matchup with Wagner. The Leopards average 76.9 points per game and 15.4 assists per game, while shooting 52.1 percent from the floor, 44.8 percent from three-point range, and 75.2 percent from the line. The defense holds opponents to 41.1 percent shooting. Lafayette gets outrebounded by an average margin of 5.6 boards per contest. Dan Tirst is leading the way for the Leopards, averaging a team-high 16.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in only 24.9 minutes per game. He is shooting 59 percent (49-83) from the field. Lafayette also has three other players averaging double figures. Seth Hinrichs, Joey Ptasinski, and Nick Linder score 12.1, 12.0, and 10.9 per contest, respectively. Lindner is the top assist man at just under four dimes per game.
Career Numbers vs. Lafayette...
NAME (GP) PPG RPG APG MPG
Phil Gaetano (3) 6.7 2.3 6 32.3
Steve Glowiak (3) 9 2.3 .7 21.3
Kelley (3) 11.3 3 2.7 25.7
Tevin Falzon (2) - - - 3.5
Cole Walton (1) 6 2 - 15
De'von Barnett (1) 8 4 1 22
Career Highs Set Last Season vs. Lafayette...
Walton - FT Made (4), FT Attempted (6)
Looking for Four Straight... Coming off the win Saturday, SHU extended its win streak to 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 Pioneers have not won four straight since February 14-March 5, 2009, when they won six straight. Since then they have had six three-game winnings streaks that they have failed to extend to four games.
Winning in the Pitt... With two straight wins in William H. Pitt Center last Sunday and on Saturday over Campbell and Holy Cross, the 2 wins in three home games already surpasses the one win from all of last year. The win over Campbell snapped a five game losing streak at the venue. Entering last Sunday, 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.
Fourth Win of the Season... Sacred Heart won its fourth game of the season on Saturday in the seventh game of the year. The fourth win this season comes more than a month earlier than the fourth win last campaign. The Pioneers won their fourth game in 17th game of the season on January 11.
Outshooting the Opponent... The Pioneers are 4-0 when they have a higher shooting percentage than the opponent this season, and 0-3 when they have a lower shooting percentage.
Hot and Cold... SHU ranks second in the NEC in both scoring offense (66.9) and FG percentage (.430).
- The team shot over fifty percent on Saturday (55.1) for the second time this season, and the first time since shooting 30-51 (58.8 percent) in the season opening victory over Hartford.
-The Pioneers have shot over forty percent in five of seven contests to being the year.
-In wins Sacred Heart is shooting 51.2 percent and averaging 73.5 points, while in loses they are shooting 33.3 percent and scoring 58 points.
Stingy Defense... The Pioneer defense ranks 1st in the NEC in FG percentage defense, holding opponents to 42.3 percent shooting. They have held four of seven foes to under 40 percent shooting on the year.
-In wins, SHU is holding opponents to .371, while in losses the opponent is shooting .486.
-Despite they still rank 6th in ppg allowed (70.7)
