LORETTO, PA (January 4, 2016)—The Pioneers comeback was cut short in the final seconds of Monday's game at Saint Francis U's DeGol Arena. Shooting 61.3% from the floor in the second half, the Sacred Heart men's basketball team cut a 14-point Red Flash lead to just two points, but could not make the final push and fell 84-80 to SFU. With the loss, SHU splits the conference-opening weekend falling to 2-11 overall and 1-1 in the Northeast Conference, while Saint Francis improves to 6-7 and 2-0 in the league.

SHU comes home Thursday night to host the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at 7:00 p.m. in the William H. Pitt Center.

Inside the Box:

• During their second-half comeback attempt, the Pioneers shot an impressive 61.3%
• Cane Broome (East Hartford, Conn.) led all players with 29 points. Ben Millaud-Meunier led the Red Flash with 24, shooting .600 (6-10) from the floor and .625 (5-8) from beyond the arc
• Jordan Allen (Bay Shore, N.Y.) missed a double-double by just one rebound. The graduate student was one of four Pioneers to reach double-digit points with 11

Turning Point
After Quincy McKnight (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Broome put SHU back on top 38-35 with back-to-back baskets to open the second half, Millaud-Meunier launched a triple that ignited an 11-point run for the Red Flash, of which the senior owned the first nine with three consecutive treys, giving SFU a 46-38 lead the Pioneers never came back from.

First Half:

• Saint Francis got the opening basket to hold onto a lead early, but the Pioneers were never more than three points behind in the opening minutes. With 12:54 on the clock, Tevin Falzon (Newton, Mass.) coming in off the bench put SHU ahead by one, 8-7, with a lay up
• In a half that saw the lead change sides eight times, and score tie on seven occasions, who owned the halftime lead came down to the final minutes. With the score even at 32, Basil Thompson tip the scales for Saint Francis with a layin. Millaud-Meunier made it a three-point game hitting one-of-two shots from the free throw line. Getting the ball with 44 seconds remaining in the half, the Pioneers called a timeout to draw up a play. Broome brought SHU within one fighting through three defenders in the paint for the bucket, but that was as close as they'd get before the buzzer, going into halftime down 35-34.

Second Half:

• McKnight wasted no time putting the Pioneers back on top knocking down a jumper in the paint in the first minute, and Broome followed it with a tear drop moments later to put SHU up 38-35
• Millaud-Meunier answered with a triple for SFU's first field goal of the half just before the 16-minute mark. That was the first of three-straight for the senior helping the Red Flash to an 11-point streak over nearly two minutes. As Saint Francis took the game's largest lead thus far of eight points, Sacred Heart Head Coach Anthony Latina called a timeout to rally the troops
• The Pioneers chipped away coming within one point, 51-50, on a Falzon layin, but Basil Thompson fended off the comeback grabbing a defensive rebound and finding the basket for two points sparking an 11-3 run for the Red Flash
• SHU came alive in the final minute. Down 78-69, Falzon went one-for-two from the charity stripe starting a SHU comeback that saw Broome drain a three with five seconds left to bring the Pioneers within two of catching Saint Francis, 82-80
• Millaud-Meunier had the final say halting the Pioneers' offense and widening the gap to four points with two free throws with four seconds left, effectively clinching an opening weekend sweep for the Red Flash