Box Score TEANECK, N.J. – The Sacred Heart men's basketball team shot a season best 61.0 percent from the floor, including 69.2 percent (18-26) in the sceonf half, and held a 48-22 rebounding advantage, as it held off Fairleigh Dickinson, 90-85, on Thursday night at the Rothman Center. Evan Kelley led the Pioneers with a season high 27 points on 11-14 shooting, while Cane Broome added 23 in what was SHU's first game with two twenty point scorers since February 2nd of last year. With 17 points and 19 rebounds, Tevin Falzon recorded his sixth double double of the season and was one rebound shy of the first 20-rebound game by a Sacred Heart player since 1996. With the win, Sacred Heart is now 14-16 and 8-9 in Northeast Conference play. Darian Anderson matched Kelley's 27 points for FDU, and added 11 assists in the 15th straight loss for the Knights that drops them to 7-21 and 2-15 in the NEC.
The Pioneer lead reached a game high seven after two Kelley free throws, his sixth straight point, with just 5:14 remaining, but two Anderson triples sparked an 8-2 run that would cut the lead to one. Mustafaa Jones' layup with 3:03 remaining was FDU's fifth straight point, and brought the score to 83-82. From there, SHU closed the game on a 7-3 run to seal the victory. An Earl Potts Jr. free throw answered a Kelley jumper to trim the deficit back to two with 1:54 to go, but the next trip down the court, Kelley found Broome for a layup at the shot clock buzzer to put Sacred Heart up 87-83. Following two Knight misses with a SHU turnover in between, Phil Gaetano found a streaking Kelley for a layup with 22 seconds left that would put the Pioneers up six and ultimately clinch the win.
They Pioneers limited FDU to 46.4 percent shooting (32-69). The Knights were able to stay in the game thanks to poor Pioneer free throw shooting (12-23), as well as only turning the ball over three times to SHU's 15.
It was Kelley who sparked Sacred Heart out of the half. He scored the first seven Pioneer points of the second half, twice extending the lead to what at the time was a SHU-high five. His seventh point was a jumper that gave Sacred Heart a 51-46 advantage just 1:47 into the half. The Knights answered back each time though, and after that jumper, scored six unanswered to retake the lead, 52-51, after a Darius Stokes layup just 59 seconds later.
The game stayed within one over the next couple of minutes, with the two teams trading points. Sacred Heart momentarily went up five when Steve Glowiak drained a three pointer, his second of an 8-2 run, to put the Pioneers with up 65-60 with 13:37 to go. Fairleigh Dickinson responded once again though, scoring nine unanswered points. After a Jones' trifecta, he then was on the receiving end of an Anderson past for a fast break layup with 11:13 left.
It was Broome who would answer for the Pioneers, sparking a 16-5 run that put Sacred Heart up seven at the 5:14 mark. Broome scored the first seven of the surge, as his triple with 9:04 on the clock gave SHU the lead for good, 72-71. Following three more points by SHU, Anderson got FDU within one, 75-74, with a three point basket with 7:01 remaining. Kelley took over from there scoring the next six, hitting two jumpers followed by his two free throws with 5:14 to go.
In addition to their high scoring nights, Kelley contributed six assists, while Broome had seven rebounds. Jordan Allen was a perfect 4-4 from the field, scoring ten points to go along with seven rebounds in just 19 minutes. Glowiak added nine points and Gaetano had a team-high seven assists.
Jones, Potts, and Matt MacDonald were all in double figures for FDU, scoring 18, 13, and 12, respectively. Darius Stokes had a team high six rebounds to go along with six points.
In a faced paced first half, Fairleigh Dickinson jumped out to the early 10-2 lead thanks to threes from Jones and MacDonald, followed by a Potts steal and fast break layup just 3:31 in. SHU came back with a 15-5 run of its own to take its first lead, 17-15, after an Allen free throw with 12:01 remaining. Falzon, who had a double double in the first half, sparked the run with six points, including two straight baskets before Allen's foul shot.
After the two teams traded baskets, FDU regained the lead with a 9-2 spurt to go ahead 30-25, capped by two Anderson layups 23 seconds apart, the latter with 7:15 to go. Broome answered 17 seconds later with a three. After two Knight free throws, Sacred Heart closed the half on a 16-8 flurry over the final 5:57.
SHU first scored six of the next eight, all by Kelley, to tie the game with his layup at the 4:13 mark. Fairleigh Dickinson quickly grabbed the lead back with an Earl Potts' dunk 12 seconds later, but that would its last lead of the half. The Pioneers scored four straight before the teams exchanged points until there was a tie at 40 after two MacDonald free throws 1:27 before the break. SHU scored the final four points, extending the lead to four with two Falzon free throws with 55 seconds showing.
Sacred Heart closes its season on Saturday with a 3:30 pm tip against LIU Brooklyn at the William H. Pitt Center. The tip will follow the women's game, which begins at 1 pm. Before the start of the contest, SHU will honor its three seniors, Kelley, Gaetano, and Glowiak, in the final home game of their Pioneer careers. With a win, Sacred Heart would clinch the six seed in the upcoming Northeast Conference tournament, which begins next Wednesday.
