FAIRFIELD, CONN. (January 3, 2015)—The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team dropped its Northeast Conference opener 73-71 to Saint Francis Brooklyn Saturday evening at the William H. Pitt Center. The loss drops the Pioneers to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Terriers improved to 7-7 on the season and 1-0 in NEC action.

Brent Jones scored the go-ahead basket with 28 seconds left after Tevin Falzon (Newton, Mass.) scored four consecutive points to put SHU in front, 71-70 with 59.1 seconds to play. Jones drove the left side of the paint and scooped a shot that found the basket as the shot clock ran down.  On the ensuing possession, the Pioneers had a shot blocked and another rim out, ending up in the arms of Jalen Cannon.  Cannon made 1-2 free throws with just over three seconds remaining and Evan Kelley's (Norwalk, Conn.) three-point attempt from midcourt was too strong.

SHU shot 44.6 percent from the field for the game with four three pointers, all in the first-half.  The Pioneers were led by Kelley's 18 points, to go along with a team-best eight rebounds. Cane Broome (East Hartford, Conn.) tallied 13 points, while Jordan Allen (Bayshore, N.Y.) scored 11 points. Phil Gaetano (Wallingford, Conn.) handed out eight assists.

SFBK received a double-double from Cannon, who finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Tyreek Jewell scored 15 points and Brent Jones finished with 13 points and seven assists.  The Terriers shot 42.4 percent from the field for the game, and finished with a 39-35 edge in rebounding.

The Pioneers led by as many as 18 points, 42-24, in the first-half, but the Terriers shot 44.8 percent, 13-29, from the field in the second-half, while holding SHU to 8-29 from the floor after intermission.  SFBK opened the game with five consecutive points and took an 11-4 lead on a Cannon layup 3:28 into the game.  Broome drained a three-pointer on the Pioneers' next possession, starting a 7-0 run that culminated with back-to-back layups from Broom and Filip Nowicki (Wloclawek, Poland) to knot the score, 11-11, with 13:43 to play in the half.

Cannon ended the Terrier scoring drought on the next possession, giving SFBK a short lived 13-11 lead, before Kelley knocked down a three pointer for the Pioneers for a 14-13 advantage.  That basket sparked a 31-13 Pioneer run that built the SHU advantage to 18 points, 42-24, with 2:31 to play before intermission.  The Terriers scored the final eight points, including a tip-in at the buzzer, to cut their halftime deficit to 10 points, 42-32.

SHU maintained the lead through most of the second-half, leading by as many as a dozen, 48-36 with 16:30 to play. The Terriers took their first lead of the second-half with 4:49 to play, 63-62, on a pair of Jewell free throws.   The Terriers led 65-63 when Kelley knocked down a pair of free throws out of a timeout with 3:55 to play to tie the score 65-65.

After the Pioneers forced a 35-second shot clock violation, Kelley connected on a 14-foot jumper from the left wing to put SHU back in front, 67-65, with 3:03 to play.  Cannon knocked down a three pointer for the Terriers on the next possession for a 68-67 lead.  Antonio Jenifer blocked a Broome jumper that led to a fast break basket for Jones and a 70-67 St. Francis Brooklyn advantage, setting up the Falzon run and the Jones game-winner.

Sacred Heart is back in action on Monday, January 5 when it hosts Central Connecticut State University.  The 7:30 p.m. game at the William H. Pitt Center is the second game of an NEC doubleheader with the Pioneer women's basketball team.