MOON TOWNSHIP, PA (January 2, 2016)—Cane Broome's (East Hartford, Conn.) career-best 33 points led the Sacred Heart men's basketball team to Saturday's 69-65 conference-opening win over the reigning Northeast Conference Champions Robert Morris Colonials in the Charles L. Sewall Center in Moon Township, Pa. SHU used a 21-7 streak in the second-half to get the advantage over RMU snapping a 10-game slide to improve to 2-10 on the season and 1-0 in NEC play, while Robert Morris falls to 2-12 overall and 0-1 in conference. 

With the Pioneers down 42-33 with just under 17 minutes to play, Jordan Allen (Bay Shore, N.Y.) brought the SHU offense to life with a layup, sparking 10 straight Pioneer points, which culminated with Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) intercepting a Colonial pass and laying in the fastbreak points putting SHU back on top 43-42.

The Colonials were quick to reclaim the lead with four straight points, two from Isaiah Still and two from Kavon Stewart, all from the foul line, 46-43. A layup from McKnight with 11:28 remaining started SHU back up for eight more points, reclaiming and improving its lead to 51-46 with 8:43 remaining.

With 45 seconds on the clock, Rodney Pryor landed a three sparking a five-point RMU run that brought the Colonials within just three points, 65-62, with 21 seconds left. Matej Buovac (Zagreb, Croatia), who went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute, made it a two-possession game with a pair from the line. With 11 second on the clock, Matty McConnell once again made it a two-point game adding a three for RMU, but that would be all they got as tough SHU defense did not allow another basket.

The Pioneers continue their western Pennsylvania swing Monday night in Loretto against the Saint Francis Red Flash at 4:00 p.m.

Noteworthy:

• Driving to the basket as the clock wound down on the first half, Broome tallied the 699^th and 700^th points of his career at the buzzer en route to a career-best 33 points
• The win snaps a 10-game losing streak for the Pioneers
• Cole Walton (Bellevue, Wash.) grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and tied his season-high of two points
• SHU held Robert Morris without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes in the second half during its 21-7 run. All seven of the Colonials' points came on free throws
• This was the Pioneers' third win in the Sewall Center

First Half:

• After both teams failed to get on the board for nearly the first two minutes of the game, Still put the Colonials on the board landing one of two from the free throw line. Thirty seconds later, Billy Giles did the same as part of a 6-0 RMU run
• Eyimofe Edukugho (Warri, Nigeria) opened scoring for the Pioneers with a second-chance layin just before the 16-minute mark
• SHU worked its way back with Broome making two-of-three from the charity stripe sparking a seven-point run, which culminated with a Broome steal and fast break layin for the Pioneers' first lead, 9-8. The lead was short-lived at Still laid in back-to-back buckets
• Down 17-11, Edukugho sparked an 8-3 SHU run that brought the Pioneers within one point of catching the Colonials before the 7:45 media timeout. Coming out of the break, Sacred Heart wasted no time and on its first possession, Buovac (Zagreb, Croatia) found Broome at the top of the key for three points giving SHU a 22-20 advantage
• Elijah Minnie evened the score at 22, but Broome tipped the scales back in the Pioneers' favor with two shots from the line, but in the close game RMU's Stewart and Pryor combined for three points t reclaim the lead, 25-24, the start of a 12-2 Colonial run
• With just enough time to get off one more shot in the first half, Broome, who accounted for SHU's final 12 points of the half, drove the lane for two points at the buzzer sending the Pioneers into halftime down 34-29

Second Half:

• After McKnight opened second-half scoring, the Colonials went on an 8-2 run, expanding their lead to nine points, 42-33, with 17:21 remaining in regulation
• Just before the 16-minute marker, graduate student Allen got the SHU offense going with a layup igniting a 10-0 Pioneer rally resulting in McKnight reclaiming the lead for Sacred Heart, 43-42, just before the 13:23 media timeout
• As the Pioneers went on a 21-7 run, they did not allow a single Robert Morris field goal for nearly 13 minutes
• With SHU up 65-57 and less than a minute to play, Pryor makes it a five-point game with a triple, the first of five-straight RMU points bringing the Colonials within three points. Buovac made it a two-possession game hitting both his shots from the line with 21 seconds remaining
• Hitting a wide-open three, McConnell once again narrowed the gap to two points, 67-65, heading into the final 10 seconds