SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Three Pioneers finished with double doubles as the Sacred Heart men's basketball team clinched back-to-back Northeast Conference tournament appearances for the first time since 2008-09 with a 74-57 victory at Bryant on Thursday night at the Chace Wellness Center. Now at 9-6 in the league, SHU is in a four-way tie for second place with three games remaining, one game back of the top spot with a 9-6 record

Cane Broome led all players with 27 points and pulled down ten rebounds for his second career double double and also had four assists and three steals. Tevin Falzon was one rebound shy of a career-best, and two caroms short of becoming the first Pioneer since 1996 with 20 boards, adding 18 points and three blocks. Coming off his first career double double last Saturday, Quincy McKnight made it two in a row with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a career-highs six assists and four steals.

Led by the three double doubles, Sacred Heart absolutely dominated the glass with a season-high 53 rebounds to Bryant's 33, including grabbing a season-high 21 offensive boards for a 24-9 advantage in second chance points. Those second chance points helped the Pioneers outscore the Bulldogs 54-32 in the paint. With Bryant shooting 35.6 percent, SHU held its third straight opponent under 40 percent, something the Pioneers did just twice in the first 23 games of the season before the stretch.

Deadlocked at 29 at the half, Sacred Heart exploded out of the locker room with a 15-2 run and looked like it would run away with if from there as Broome completed a three-point play with 15:48 remaining. McKnight extended the lead to 50-36 just over two minutes later on a jumper at the 13:37 mark. Bryant battled back though, going on a 14-5 run over the next 6:12 to get as close as five, 55-50, when Shane McLaughlin made a jumper with 7:25 to go.

Nisre Zouzoua led the Bulldogs (7-21, 4-11 NEC) with 14 points with Marcel Pettway adding 12. Bosko Kostur contributed 11 points and grabbed a team-high seven caroms. 

Sacred Heart takes on one of the four teams it is tied in second with, Fairleigh Dickinson, on Saturday at 7 pm in a game to be broadcast on ESPN3. The Knights dropped a battle of first place teams on Thursday night, losing to Wagner 94-74.

Noteworthy

• The win was the 800^th for the Sacred Heart program in its 51^st season
• Since starting 1-3, SHU's 8-3 record over the last 11 games in the best in the NEC
• The victory gives Sacred Heart a regular season sweep of Bryant for the second year in a row, and the fifth time in eight years since the Bulldogs joined the league
• Becoming the 40^th Pioneer with 1,000 career points last Saturday, Broome's 27 now gives him 1,039 for his career, as he passed five players tonight to move into 35^th place on the all-time scoring list.

Inside the Box

• The two teams each made one three-pointer
• Bryant shot a perfect 14-14 from the line in the loss

How it Happened

• First Half
  • Bryant took the half's largest lead just 3:17 in when McLaughlin hit a jumper to put the Bulldogs up 8-6
  • Sacred Heart quickly erased the deficit, scoring eight unanswered over the next three and a half minutes to take its first lead when Falzon tipped in a miss to make the score 10-8
  • Bryant would come right back with a 12-4 run to again go ahead by six, 20-14, capped by Zouzoua's fifth straight point at the 7:02 mark
  • SHU would score six in a row this time, tying the game for a fourth time when Broome made 2-2 from the line with 4:12 remaining
  • Both teams would lead by three points in the final four minutes. Bryant first went up 26-23 with 2:18 left before McKnight capped yet another 6-0 flurry 1:38 later
  • Justin Brickman would have the final say though, converting a three-point play 23 seconds before the buzzer to even the scoreboard for a sixth time, 29-29