Game Highlights

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After a back and forth first half, a second half scoring drought destined the Sacred Heart men's basketball team to a 76-59 loss to Wagner in Northeast Conference basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. The loss is the third straight for the Pioneers, who fall to 2-13 and 1-3 on the year.

Down by as much as ten in the first half and trailing 39-32 heading into the locker room, Sacred Heart came out of the break with a 7-3 run in the first 2:51 to pull within three, 42-39, on a Sean Hoehn three-pointer. That would be as close as the Pioneers would get though, as minutes later they went through a severe scoring slump. After Matej Buovac hit a jumper to make the score 47-43 with 15:32 remaining, SHU would go scoreless for 7:26.

Wagner (10-5, 3-1 NEC) took advantage with 14 unanswered to effectively clinch the game, taking a 61-43 lead on Dwaun Anderson's layup with 8:23 to go. The SHU drought ended with a Hoehn free throw 15 seconds later, but the Pioneers could not cut the lead to under 13 points.

It was all part of a 31.8 percent shooting second half, which brought Sacred Heart's field goal percentage to 39.2 for the game. The Pioneers also made just 5-16, 31.3 percent, from three-point range. Meanwhile Wagner made 49.2 percent from the field and 8-16 from beyond the arch. The Seahawks also hit the glass for a 38-28 rebounding advantage, and turned 15 SHU turnovers into 24 points for a 24-9 edge in points off turnovers.

Cane Broome led Sacred Heart with eleven points, four steals and two assists. Eyimofe Edukugho and Matej Buovac each added ten, while Jordan Allen had nine. Quincy McKnight led the Pioneers with six rebounds.

Romone Saunders and Anderson each poured in 22 points for Wagner on a combined 18-29 shooting. Saunders also led the Seahawks with eight rebounds and made 5-8 from beyond the arch. Mike Aaman was the only other Seahawk in double figures with 12 points, while JoJo Cooper dished out a game-high four assists.

Sacred Heart will travel to in-state rival Central Connecticut State for a 7:00 pm tip on Thursday. The Blue Devils currently sit alone at the bottom of the NEC with a 0-4 league record.

Noteworthy:

• With five rebounds, Tevin Falzon became the third active player in the NEC with 500 for his career

Inside the Box:                                                                          

• Sacred Heart made 14-19, 73.7 percent, from the foul line, good for its third best percentage of the season
• The Pioneers' eight assists tied a new season low

How it Happened:

• First Half
  • The first half of the first half was a game of runs. After Wagner came out with the first seven points of the game on 3-3 shooting in the first 1:39, Sacred Heart took just 1:01 to get back within one point on a Cole Walton layup.
  • The Seahawks then scored nine unanswered to take the largest lead of the firs half, 16-6, on a Saunders triple with 14:35 remaining
  • Then it was SHU's turn to score nine over the next in a row, doing so over the next 3:48 to get as close as one on Falzon's layup
  • The lead got as large as nine late in the half when an Anderson transition dunk capped a 9-3 spurt to put Wagner in front, 36-27, 2:18 ahead of the break
  • SHU got as close as five on an Edukgho layup with 35 seconds to go, but Anderson put the Seahawks back on top by seven, 39-32, with a driving layup four seconds before the halftime buzzer