Box Score Game Highlights
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – With the game tied for the 15th time at 70 with 2:21 remaining, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball went on a 10-3 run and ultimately prevailed over second place Robert Morris for the first time since 2011, 80-76, on Thursday night at the William H. Pitt Center. The win clinches the program's first Northeast Conference tournament bid since 2012. Tevin Falzon pulled down a career high 18 rebounds, and added 13 points for his fifth double double of the season. Evan Kelley added a team-high 18 points and seven boards, and Cane Broome contributed 16 points and 5 assists, as the Pioneers improve to 13-15 and 7-8 in the NEC. Rodney Pryor scored a game-high 31 points on 12 of 16 shooting for Robert Morris in the loss, which drops the Colonials to 13-14 and 9-6 in league play.
Following Pryor's layup that tied the game at 70, Sacred Heart took control of the game with the next four points, triggering the game-sealing run. Kelley put the Pioneers up for good with his layup at the 1:54 mark. After Broome added 2-2 from the line 42 seconds later to stretch the lead to four, the Colonials would cut the deficit to three twice. Marcquise Reed's first went 1-2 at the charity stripe ten seconds after the Broome free throws.
Falzon then make his biggest basket of the game, receiving the ball in the paint from De'von Barnett and forcing a layup over two Colonial defenders to give SHU the, 76-71, lead with just 30 seconds remaining. Reed would again dig into the deficit, sprinting down the length of the court for a contested layup just seven seconds later. Phil Gaetano and Kelley would seal it from the line though, each going 2-2, with a RMU miss in between.
The Colonials did shoot 52.7 percent (29-55) from the floor, including 17-28 (60.7 percent) after halftime, but could not overcome 20 turnovers, which led to 28 points Pioneer points. Sacred Heart only shot 43.8 percent (28-64), but went 16-30 in the second half, including making 5-10 from beyond the arch after going 1-13 before the break. Robert Morris also made six trifectas on 12 attempts. The Pioneers went 18-23 (78.3) from at the foul line, tied for their third best percentage of the year, while the Colonials were 12-17. SHU outrebounded RMU, 39-32.
Pryor scored the first eight Colonial points out of the locker room, spearheading a14-6 flurry in the first 3:08 to give RMU its second five point lead of the game, 40-35. The two teams then traded three runs of five unanswered. The Pioneers did so first, trying the game back up at 40 with a Barnett layup with 15:45 remaining. Pryor scored the next five himself, capped by three free throws at the 14:21 mark, before Steve Glowiak hit a three pointer and Kelley laid in a fast break layup following a Broome steal and pass just 1:04 later.
The Colonials responded once again, scoring six in a row this time to establish their largest lead of the game, 51-45, when Pryor converted a transition layup off an Elijah Minnie steal with 11:16 showing. Glowiak and Kelley again came back with a three and transition layup, the latter with 10:42 left. Robert Morris would not lead by more than three the remainder of the contest. Stephan Bennett first answered Kelley's layup with a score of his own 45 seconds later. They again went up three with a Pryor layup with 9:11 remaining.
After that basket, Sacred Heart jumped out to a two point lead with a 6-1 surge, with the first five points coming from Broome, and then Jordan Allen making 1-2 with 8:16 on the clock. The Colonials took the lead back with four straight, with Lionel Gomis controlling a Barnett block and converting the put back 1:02 after the foul shot. Allen tied the game for the 12th time with his dunk the ensuing possession only to have Aaron Tate regain it right back six minutes even showing on the clock.
That would be the last Colonial lead, as SHU poured in seven unanswered, capped by Gaetano's only basket of the game, a trifecta with 4:32 left to push the SHU advantage to, 67-62. A Pryor triple just 12 seconds later sparked an 8-3 run. Pryor scored all eight, including a three-point play, and his layup knotted the contest up at 70.
Falzon added three blocks and thee steals to his stat line. Barnett was the fourth Pioneer in double figures, scoring 11 on 4-5 shooting. Allen contributed seven on 3-4 from the field. Gaetano tallied a game-high six assists. Pryor, along with Tate, recorded a team-high with 7 boards for Robert Morris. Reed and Kavon Stewart contributed 16 and 11, respectively. Stewart also had six assists.
Robert Morris used eight unanswered early to jump out to the largest first half lead by either team, 12-7, just 5:32 into the contest. Following Reed's second floater of the run, Pryor nailed a jumper to bring the advantage to five. SHU would respond with an, 8-2, flurry, capped with six straight points, all by Kelley. After Stewart answered an Allen layup with a triple, Kelley scored the first of the six with a steal and transition layup. Following a jumper, he then hit two straight foul shots, which were set up after a Glowiak steal, to tie the game at 15 with 10:19 remaining.
The two teams would trade baskets the next six possessions down the court, with another Kelley transition layup tying the game at 21 with 8:08 showing. After a Pryor jumper 1:01 later, the Pioneers scored five unanswered. Falzon rebounded a missed free throw to give SHU its largest first half lead, 26-23, with 5:04 left. After the Colonials tied it back up, Falzon again gave Sacred Heart a three-point advantage after an offensive rebound, this time 1:34 before the break. Stewart's free throw exactly one minute ahead of half brought the score to 29-27.
Sacred Heart next takes the floor at 3:30 pm on Saturday, when it travels to New Britain for an in-state matchup with Central Connecticut State. The game will follow the women's game, which begins at 1 pm. The Blue Devils are currently 3-24, including 1-13 in the Northeast Conference.
