SHU Looks to End Road Trip at Saint Francis U 2-0 in NEC Play
1/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sacred Heart (2-10, 1-0 NEC) at Saint Francis U (5-7, 1-0 NEC)
Monday, January 4, 2015 - 5:00 pm - The Maurice Stokes Athletics Center (3,500) - Loretto, Penn.
Video | Live Stats |Game Notes
After opening the New Year and its Northeast Conference season with a 69-65 victory over defending champion Robert Morris on Saturday, the Sacred Heart men's basketball will look to sweep its annual Pennsylvania road trip at Saint Francis U on Monday evening at 5 pm. The game will be the final of a five-game road trip, ending a stretch that features 11 of 12 games away from the William H. Pitt Center.
Scouting Saint Francis U... SFU also began their NEC season with a victory, defeating Wagner 73-65 on Saturday to improve to 4-1 at home and 5-7 overall. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and a stretch of four losses in five games. The Red Flash are one of the top defensive teams in the NEC, ranking second by holding opponents to 71.7 points on 43.6 percent shooting and leading the league with opponents shooting just 29.5 percent from beyond the arch. Offensively they use the three-point shot, leading the conference with a 35.4 percentage and ranking third in makes at 7.1 per contest. Greg Brown and Ben Millaud-Meunier lead that three-point attack, averaging 14.4 and 12.4 points per game respectively, while both also ranking in the top seven of the NEC in threes made per game. Brown is also atop of the conference with a .486 three-point percentage. Ronnie Drinnon nearly averages a double double with averages of 9.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.
Series History... Sweeping SHU last season, the Red Flash are in the midst of their longest winning streak against the Pioneers with four straight victories, taking over the lead in the all-time series by just one game, 13-12. Despite the loss last year, which evened the series in Loretto at 7-7, Sacred Heart has won six of the past nine at The Maurice Stokes Center. SFU holds the edge in the Pitt, 6-5, winning three of the past four. The longest winning streak in the series is by SHU, who won seven straight from 2006-09.
Last Meeting…Trailing by 17 at halftime and by as many as 19 early in the second half, a Sacred Heart comeback fell just short when Earl Brown tipped in a miss at the buzzer to win, 79-78, at the Maurice Stokes Athletics Center on January 16 of last season. The game-winner came after Jordan Allen had given SHU just its second lead of the half, 78-77, after scoring off an inbound with less than eight seconds remaining. Evan Kelley scored 16 of his game-high 22 in the second half and shot 11-17 from the floor to lead the Pioneers, while Ronnie Drinnon led the Red Flash with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Career Numbers vs. Saint Francis U...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Tevin Falzon (5-2) 2.8 4.8 0.2 14.8
Cane Broome (2-2) 12.5 5.5 1.0 35.5
Jordan Allen (2-0) 11.0 5.5 0.5 23.5
Chris Robinson (2-0) 3.0 2.5 0.5 8.5
Filip Nowicki (2-0) 2.0 0.5 - 7.5
Last Time Out…Cane Broome's career-best 33 points led SHU to a 69-65 conference-opening win over the reigning NEC champion Robert Morris Colonials on Saturday. The Pioneers used a 21-7 run in the second-half to get the advantage over RMU, snapping a 10-game slide to improve to 2-10 on the season.
2-0 NEC Starts... Sacred Heart last started 2-0 in the conference in 2012-13. In total, the Pioneers have accomplished the feat five times in 17 seasons in the league, including three straight years from 2006-07 to 2008-09.
-SHU defeated Robert Morris and Saint Francis U to open that 2006-07 NEC campaign.
2015-16 NEC Preseason Poll... Chosen to finish in the bottom four of the league prior to the season, both teams opened their league schedule on Saturday by defeating a team in the top four of the poll :
1. Mount St. Mary's (6) 6. Wagner
2. Robert Morris (3) 7. Sacred Heart
3. Bryant (1) 8. Saint Francis U
4. LIU Brooklyn 9. Fairleigh Dickinson
5. St. Francis Brooklyn 10. Central Connecticut
