FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Trialing by as many as 17, including 11 with 6:26 remaining, the Sacred Heart University basketball team forced overtime and eventually pulled away from second place Bryant, 84-75, on Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. Down by three with the second half clock winding down, Phil Gaetano's three pointer with six seconds left tied the game at 71, and after forcing a Bryant miss at the buzzer, sent the game into overtime.  After outscoring the Bulldogs 13-4 in overtime, the Pioneers completed the sweep of the Bulldogs to win their second straight and lift their record to 11-14 and 5-7 in Northeast Conference play. Sacred Heart held Bryant to just one made field goal in the final 10:10 of regulation and overtime combined.

Jordan Allen scored 14 of his career high 24 in the second half, going 11-14 from the field. Cane Broome added 17 and Evan Kelley scored seven of his 16 in overtime, as well as grabbing a team-high 7 rebounds. Dyami Starks scored 21 of his game high 26 in the first half for the Bulldogs, while Dan Garvin recorded a double double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Bryant loses for the fourth time in six games, as it falls to 11-12 and 8-4 in league play. 

After Allen gave SHU the first lead of overtime, making 1-2 from the line 41 seconds into the extra period, the Bulldogs took their OT lone lead when Garvin drained two foul shots with 3:59 remaining. Just 16 seconds later Steve Glowiak converted a three-point play to give Sacred Heart the lead for good. After a Kelley layup, Joe O'Shea made two more foul shots to get the Bulldogs back within two, but the Pioneers clinched the game when Kelley converted the second Pioneer three-point play in overtime with just 1:30 left on the clock. SHU clinched the game with 4-4 foul shooting in the final 1:05.

After shooting 57.6 percent (19-33) in the first half, Sacred Heart held the Bulldogs to just 7-27 (25.9 percent) in the second half and overtime combined. SHU on the other hand shot 19-37 (51.4 percent) after the half, following an 11-27 (40.7) performance in the first.

It was Garvin's free throw that put the Bulldogs up 11, 66-55, with 6:26 on the clock. Sacred Heart would go on to score 13 of the next 14, including eight by Allen, over the next 4:56 to take its first lead since the 18:29 mark of the first half. Allen scored the first four in the run, before Gaetano hit a three pointer, his first basket of the game, with 4:14 left. After a Bulldog free throw, again it was Allen spearheading the surge, scoring four in a row once again, the second with 2:20 showing. Kelley capped the comeback with his tip in with 1:30 remaining.

Bryant's only basket over the final 15:10 of the game came when Starks responded with his contested jumper with 27 showing. After a SHU miss, Shane McLaughlin drained 2-2 from the charity stipe to give the Bulldogs their three-point lead with 12 seconds left.

In addition to his SHU-high 24 points, Allen added six rebounds. Kelley recorded a game-high three steals, as well as three assists. Broome tallied four dimes. Gaetano finished with eight points and a game-high six assists. Glowiak finished with nine points and four boards. Also scoring in double figures for Bryant was Bosko Kostur and McLaughlin, with 15 and 12 respectively. McLaughlin also had seven rebounds and six assists. Garvin added three blocks to his 15 and 15.

Trailing by 14 at the half, Sacred Heart began chipping away early in the second. Allen got the scoring started once again 44 seconds out of the break. Following a McLaughlin foul shot, SHU scored the next four points to get within single digits. Kelley followed up an Allen dunk with a layup to cut the score to, 47-38, but Bryant would score the next four points on back to back Kostur layups, the second with 15:27 remaining. 

The Pioneers again chipped the lead to single digits, 51-42, with four in a row, capped by Gaetano's going 2-2 from the line with 14:13 left, but Bryant seemed to ice the game scoring the next six to stretch its advantage to 15. After a McLaughlin triple, Garvin's layup at the 11:27 mark brought the score to 57-42. The lead would again reach 15 after a Starks hit from beyond the arch 1:17 later. That would be the last Bulldog basket until Starks' jumper with 27 seconds remaining.

Sacred Heart began its comeback after that trifecta with six unanswered. Glowiak nailed a three pointer and then Allen finished a layup with 8:22 left, but Bryant answered with two free throws to expand the lead back to eleven. After a Kelley layup, Garvin went 1-2 from the line two successive possessions, the second making the advantage 11 with 6:26 remaining.

SHU dominated the paint, outscoring the Bulldogs, 46-20. The Pioneers also had a slight advantage on the glass, 40-36. Sacred Heart went 18-27 from the line, including 7-8 in the extra period. Bryant went 14-20. 

Sacred Heart's only lead of the first half came after Broome made a three-point jumper just 1:31 in to the contest togive the Pioneers a 3-2 lead. Bryant went on a 5-1 surge right after that, with Garvin's layup putting the Bulldogs up 8-4. Three times SHU cut the lead to one, including with 13:37 remaining to bring the score to 15-14 after two Tevin Falzon free throws.

Each time the Bulldogs responded, and from there, they took control of the first half with a 10-2 run. Kostur scored five consecutive Bryant points, in between an Allen layup, before Starks poured in five more unanswered, including a triple with 10:07 showing to put the Bulldogs up, 25-16. After another Allen layup, Garvin's three-point play extended the lead to double digits for the first time, 28-18. 

Broome made two free throws, and Barnett nailed a jumper to cut the deficit to six, but Starks again answered with a trifecta. Following a Broome layup, Bryant went into the break with 15-8 run, again started by a Starks three pointer with five minutes on the clock. Broome made a triple to get within eight, 37-29, but the Bulldogs put together nine points in a row to go ahead by as much as 17. Garvin both started and ended the run, as his layup just 45 seconds before the break brought the score to, 46-29. Allen's three-point play with just four seconds showing gave the Pioneers some momentum heading into the lockeroom, cutting the deficit to 46-32. 

Sacred Heart will look for its first three game winning streak in the conference since 2013 when it travels to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday night. The Mountaineers, who defeated the Pioneers, 77-71, on January 31, is tied for fourth with a 7-5 conference mark after defeating Central Connecticut, 63-46, on Saturday afternoon.