FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team cut a 17-point second half deficit to as small as five with 1:13 remaining, but could get no closer as Mount St. Mary's pulled away to win, 71-66, on Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. Tevin Falzon recorded his fourth double double of the season, with team highs of 19 points, 17 of which were in the second half, and 10 rebounds, while Evan Kelley added 15 for the Pioneers, who lose their second straight game to fall to 9-14 and 3-7 in the Northeast Conference. Mount St. Mary's shot 12-24 from beyond the arch and 19-20 form the line, including 16-16 in the second half, as the Mountaineers improve to 10-11 and 6-4 in conference play. Byron Ashe matched his career high with 21 points and Gregory Graves added a double double, scoring ten points in addition to a career-high 13 rebounds.

After MSM, who trailed for just 41 seconds after SHU scored the first basket of the game, extended its lead to a game-high 17 for the third time, 65-48, with just under ten minutes to play, the Sacred Heart defense shut down the Mountaineers, holding them to just two points over the next 6:23. Over that period, the Pioneers went on an 11-2 flurry to get within eight. 

It was Kelley who got it started with a layup at the 9:08 mark. Cane Broome then scored four straight, making the score, 65-54, after two free throws with 7:28 remaining. The Mount's lone basket in that stretch, a layup by Khalid Nwandu 46 seconds later, momentarily extended the lead back to 13. SHU then scored five unanswered, capping the run with two Steve Glowiak foul shots to cut into the deficit to, 67-59, with just 4:14 left. Graves pushed the advantage back to double digits with two free throws 39 seconds after.

Sacred Heart got as close as seven following Jordan Allen going 1-2 from the line with 2:33 on the clock, but Ashe answered right back with a layup eleven seconds later to reestablish the nine point lead. SHU would then get closer than it had been since 16:11 mark of the second half, 71-65, when Falzon sank 2-2 from the line with 1:13 remaining, before the Mount would clinch the game going 6-6 at the charity stripe in the final 52 seconds.

Despite Mount St. Mary's hot shooting from the three-point land and the foul line, Sacred Heart limited MSM to just 37.7 percent shooting from the floor. From inside the arch, the Mountaineers converted just 11-37 (29.7 percent) two-pointers. Sacred Heart shot 41.1 percent (23-56), but while MSM was a near perfect at the foul line, the Pioneers shot under 67 percent from the charity stripe for the eighth straight game, going 23-35 (65.7). SHU could also not answer the Mountaineers' hot shooting from three, only making 2-13 (15.4), including 0-8 in the second half. Both teams failed to reach thirty percent shooting in the second half.

Trailing by eight at the half, Sacred Heart got as close as three for the first time since the 17:42 mark of the first, following five consecutive points, capped by Kelley's three point play just 3:26 out of the locker room. Ashe responded with a three-point play of his own, the Mountaineers' first points of the second half, just 23 seconds later. It was the first of eight straight points for MSM, highlighted by Ashe hitting a trifecta with 14:29 remaining to extend the lead to double digits, 49-38. Phil Gaetano answered with a three-point play the next time down the court, but Will Miller's three made the lead double digits once again with a three 17 seconds after. That double-digit lead would last until Glowiak's free throws.

Follwing Miller's 3-piont basket, Ashe sank three from the line, capping a, 14-3, flurry with 13:07 showing. After two Falzon foul shots, Mount St. Mary's hit triples on consecutive possessions, by Miller and then Chris Martin, to push the lead to the game-high, 17, for the first time at the 11:28 mark. 

Glowiak and De'von Barnett each contributed ten points, but combined for just two after the half. Gaetano dished out a contest-high 5 assists. For the Mount, no other scorers were players scored in double figures, but seven players scored at least seven points.

Mount quickly established an early lead, scoring eight unanswered after Barnett opened the game with a layup. After Charles Glover's three for Mount's first points of the game, the Mountaineers did not trail for the remainder of the contest. Ashe's trifecta put MSM up six with just over 16 minutes left in the half. The lead would again reach eight, 14-6, after Nwandu went 1-2 from the foul line with an even 13 minutes on the clock.

The Pioneers quickly responded with four straight to get within two after Glowiak's triple with 11:22 showing, but the Mountaineers again pushed the lead back to six. Robinson hit back-to-back trifectas, the second with 9:52 on the clock, to make the score 20-14. Again Glowiak would cut into the lead, this time making it 20-19, with another three. 

The Mountaineers came back with nine points in a row, holding SHU scoreless for 3:38. Graves jumper from beyond the arch with 5:50 showing pushed Mount's advantage to, 29-20. Another triple by Graves just 1:24 later extended the lead to ten, and when Ashe converted on a layup 3:15 before the half, the lead was a game-high 11, 36-25. 

SHU cut the deficit back to five with two straight baskets from Barnett, followed by Allen's layup with 1:39 remaining to bring the score to, 36-31. MSM would again answer with five straight to extend its lead back to double digits, as Chris Martin's layup dropped. Glowiak ended the first half scoring when his layup, set up by Gaetano, dropped eight seconds before the buzzer to send the teams in the locker room with the score, 41-33. 

Sacred Heart, who played its first of three straight home games, will be back in the William H. Pitt Center on Thursday night, when it hosts Wagner at 7 pm for the two team's second meeting in a week. The Seahawks, who defeated SHU, 75-64, last Thursday, currently stand at 8-13 and 5-4 in NEC play after defeating Central Connecticut, 86-55, on Saturday.