The Sacred Heart University men's basketball dropped a hard-fought 73-70 decision to visiting Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center.  The loss ends the Pioneers season at 5-26 overall and 2-14 in the league, while the Blue Devils improve to 11-18 on the year and 7-9 in the NEC.

De'Von Barnett scored a team-best 18 points for Sacred Heart, shooting 7-17 from the field in 31 minutes of action.  Evan Kelley scored 14 points, hitting 5-8 from the field and Steve Glowiak finished with 10 points.  Phil Gaetano handed out six assists in the game for the Pioneers, scoring five points.

The game featured eight ties and nine lead changes.  The Pioneers led by four, 54-50, with 11:29 to play in the game.  CCSU scored four straight over the next 67 seconds to tie the game, 54-54.  Louis Montes knocked down a three to put the Pioneers back in front, 57-54, with 10:03 to play, but it would be the last lead of the game.

Kyle Vinales, who scored a game-high 24 points, answered with a three pointer at the 9:38 mark, knotting the score 57-57 and starting an 8-0 Blue Devil run to take the lead for good.  The Pioneers had a three pointer at the buzzer to tie, but it went wide.