Pioneers Looking to Split Pennsylvania Road Trip on Sunday at Robert Morris
1/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Setting the Scene... The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team will look to split its Pennsylvania road trip at Robert Morris at 1 pm on Sunday afternoon.
Early NEC Standings... SHU is off to a 1-4 start in the NEC and currently sits in ninth place, while the Colonials is tied for fourth sitting at 3-2.
2014-15 Preseason NEC Poll... Sacred Heart was selected to finish tenth in the Preseason NEC Coaches poll, while Robert Morris was chosen third.
1. St. Francis Brooklyn (6) 6. Bryant
2. CCSU (3) 7. Wagner
3 Robert Morris 8. LIU Brooklyn
4. Saint Francis U (1) 9. Fairleigh Dickinson
5. Mount St. Mary's 10. Sacred Heart
Series History... Robert Morris holds a commanding, 18-8, advantage in the all-time series between the two teams and is currently on a series-high five-game winning streak dating back to 2012. The Colonials have also won nine of the last ten matchups. At home, RMU is especially dominant, winning 11 of the 13 meetings in Moon, including five straight. Robert Morris also won the first six ever played in Pennsylvania, before SHU won two straight in 2007 and 2008 before the current streak. The away win in 2008 was the fourth straight over RMU for Sacred Heart dating back to 2006, which is the longest in the series for the Pioneers.
Last Meeting... For the second time in 15 days, the Sacred Heart men's basketball team fell short against the first place Robert Morris Colonials. This time, RMU defeated Sacred Heart, 91-56, January 25, 2014 at the Sewall Center in Moon Township, Pa.Louis Montes (Brockton, MA) led the way for SHU, pouring in 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Steve Glowiak (New Britain, CT) chipped in with 14 points off the bench.For the second game in a row, Phil Gaetano (Wallingford, CT) dished out double-digit assists, recording a game-high 10 dimes. Robert Morris had six different scorers in double digits, including Lucky Jones who led the way with a team-high 18 points. Karvel Anderson, who scored 36 in this season's previous matchup against Sacred Heart, chipped in with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. RMU shot 53.6 percent (30-of-56) from the field.
Scouting Robert Morris... The defending regular season champions are currently 7-10 this season, starting 3-2 in the Northeast Conference after losing, 68-63, to St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday night. The Colonials are one of the better all-around shooting teams in the NEC, ranking in the top four of the conference in field goal percentage, three point percentage, and free throw percentage. Defensively, they rank third in opposing shooting percentage and are leading the league, forcing 8.9 steals per contest. Preseason All-NEC selection Lucky Jones is one of three players averaging double figures, scoring 12.9 points in addition to averaging a team-leading 6.1 rebounds. Also averaging double digits are Marcquise Reed and Rodney Pryor at 13.8 and 13.5 respectively. Pryor leads the team with 35 three-pointers and is second with 4.0 rebounds per contest, while Pryor has a team-high 34 steals. After those three, the next leading scorer is David Appolon with an average of 6.0. Kavon Steward is right behind him, scoring 5.8 in addition to a team-high 66 assists.
Career Numbers vs. Saint Francis U...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Gaetano (6-7) 3.3 1.9 6.3 32.0
Glowiak (6-2) 8.9 2.3 0.3 26.7
Evan Kelley (3-2) 7.9 2.7 1.7 23.0
Tevin Falzon (4-1) 4.8 2.5 0.8 14.8
De'von Barnett (2-2) 8.0 4.0 1.0 30.0
Cole Walton (2-0) 3.5 3.0 1.0 9.5
Eyimofe Edukugho (1-0) 4.0 - - 10.0
Percentage Leaders...The game will matchup two teams ranking in the top three of the NEC in both field goal percentage and opposing field goal percentage. Sacred Heart is first in field goal percentage and second in opponent shooting percentage, shooting 45 percent this season while limiting foes to just 42.5. RMU ranks third in each, converting 41.5 percent of shots from the floor and opponents making only 43.2.
Edge on the Glass?... The Pioneers are one of only two teams in the conference outrebounding teams this season with a margin of + 0.7. The Colonials on the other hand rank eighth, getting outrebounded by 3.2 each time out.
Pennsylvania Has Been Rough...Sacred Heart has lost five straight games in the state of Pennsylvania, and nine of its last ten. The only win in that stretch came on January 19, 2013.
Road Worries... The Pioneers have lost 14 of their last 16 on the road, including a 1-7 start this season. Sacred Heart has not won a game away from the Pitt Center since its December 3 win at Colgate.
NEC Struggles... With the 1-4 start in conference play this season, SHU is 3-25 in their past 28 NEC games.
Continuing to Lose Close... With the one point loss to Saint Francis on Friday, 20 of the Pioneers' past 24 losses have been by single digits, including 14 of their last 18 losses in NEC play.
-SHU's last five losses in NEC play have come by a combined 21 points, including two losses by one point and one loss by two points to start this conference campaign.
One More Point... With just one more point, Kelley will become the 38th player in Sacred Heart history to surpass 1,000 career points.
