BROOKLYN – Trialing by as many as 12 midway through the second half, the Sacred Heart men's basketball team came back to tie it with 3:06 remaining, but LIU Brooklyn closed the game on a 15-7 run for a 92-84 win in Northeast Conference action on Wednesday night at the Steinberg Wellness Center. Cane Broome and Sean Hoehn each finished with new career-highs of 38 and 19 points, respectively, in the loss, which snaps a two-game winning streak and drops the Pioneers to 5-15 and 4-5 in league play.

It was Broome scoring his fifth straight point on his career-high sixth three-pointer of the night to tie the score at 77, but Jerome Frink would put LIU (10-10, 4-5 NEC) back on top for good with layup the ensuing trip down the floor. Following a missed layup by SHU, Aakim Santil doubled the Blackbird lead, 81-77, with 2:09 remaining.

The Pioneers would get as close as three when Broome hit 1-2 from the line 17 seconds later, but Saintil iced the game for good with four consecutive points, capped by going 2-2 from the line for an 85-78 advantage with just 55 seconds left. That began a stretch in which LIU Brooklyn made 9-10 from the foul line in the final 55 seconds. The Blackbirds had made just 10-17 (58.8 percent) before that. 

LIU shot 50 percent (24-68) from the field, while limiting Sacred Heart to just 39.7 percent (29-73). That cancelled out the Pioneers' season-high ten three pointers. The Blackbirds also dominated the paint, outscoring SHU 54-36 inside.

The 38 points for Broome, 25 of which came in the second half,  were the highest total by a player in the NEC this season. He added three rebounds, three assists and three steals. In addition to the career-high of his own, Hoehn also tied a career-best with six rebounds. He shot efficiently, making 6-8 from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the arch, and 5-6 at the line, all new career-highs.

Jordan Allen joined those two in double figures and was one rebound shy of a double double with ten points and a team-high nine rebounds. Tevin Falzon also had nine rebounds, while Chris Robinson lead SHU with a career-best four assists.

Frink scored 17 of his team-high 24 in the first half and also had game-highs of 14 rebounds and four blocks. He made 10-14 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range. Hermannsson was right behind him with 22 points, making 8-9 from the line and stuffing the stat sheet with eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Joel Hernandez and Saintil chipped in with 15 and 14, while Trevin Woods had ten rebounds and seven points.

Sacred Heart returns home on Saturday to face Bryant at 3:30 pm as part of a doubleheader with the women, who tip at 1 pm. 

Noteworthy

• Falzon's streak of 25 straight free throws, two shy of Shane Gibson's school record 27 from 2013, came to an end with a first half miss

Inside the Box

• The Pioneers tied a season-high with 19 offensive rebounds, eight of which were by Allen, lead to a 21-14 edge in second chance points
  

How it Happened

• First Half
  •  LIU Brooklyn took three early three-point leads, the last coming when a Woods layup made the score 15-12 7:07 into the game
  • Sacred Heart would score seven unanswered from there, the first five by Broome, and ending with Eyimofe Edukugho's layup with 11:25 remaining
  • LIU answered with five straight to momentarily regain the lead, but a 6-2 surge put the Pioneers back on top 25-22 on Hoehn's jumper at the 7:15 mark
  • The Blackbirds had a 6-2 run of their own to take a 28-27 lead on Wood's layup with 4:41 left
  • Broome and Frink then traded three-pointers before an Edukugho free throw evened the score back up at 29 with 3:28 showing
  • LIU Brooklyn tallied ten unanswered after that front end of a one and one, taking a first half-high ten point lead, 39-29, when Hermannsson completed a three-point play 1:05 before the buzzer
  • SHU would regain some momentum back with the final four points, including Broome's coast to coast driving layup to beat the buzzer
  • Second Half
    •  LIU Brooklyn scored first basket out of the locker room on a Hernandez jumper but Sacred Heart quickly got back in it with three consecutive tree-pointers in a 9-3 run, capped by one from Hoehn to get back within one, 43-42, just 1:46 out of the half
    • LIU quickly regained control though, again using ten points in a row over the next 3:37, ending on a Hernandez fast break dunk for a 53-42 advantage with 14:37 to go
    • The lead reached a game-high 12, 57-45, just 40 seconds later when Hermannsson found Feidanga for a layup
    • Sacred Heart quickly got right back in it, taking just 1:50 to score ten straight and cut the deficit back to two on a Hoehn layup
    • The Blackbirds used an 8-2 surge to go back on top by eight, 67-59, on Hermannsson's layup at the 8:33 mark
    • SHU pouted in eight of the next ten to get as close as one, 70-69, on a Broome trifecta with 5:53 showing
    • Again LIU Brooklyn had a response with the next five points, regaining a six point lead just 1:06 later before Broome scored five straight to tie the score for the first time in the second half