SHU Continues Homestand Against St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday
2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sacred Heart (6-15, 5-5 NEC) vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (9-14, 5-5 NEC)
Thursday, February 5, 2016 - 7:00 pm - William H. Pitt Center (2,067) - Fairfield, Conn.
Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
The Sacred Heart men's basketball team continues its season-long three game homestand on Thursday night when it hosts St. Francis Brooklyn in a battle of teams tied for fifth in Northeast Conference play at 5-5.
Scouting St. Francis Brooklyn... St. Francis Brooklyn has alternated wins and loses in each of its last six games, most recently defeating Central Connecticut, 60-47, this past Saturday to move into a tie for fifth in the NEC standings with Sacred Heart at 5-5 and 9-14 overall. Four of the five Terrier losses come against teams in the top four of the conference, while four of the five wins come against teams in the bottom half of the league. Although SFBK is at the bottom of the NEC, scoring 63.6 points per game on 38.8 percent shooting, it is second defensively, holding opponents to just 66.3 points on 43.2 percent from the field. Those numbers have improved to 60.8 points on 37.8 points in NEC play, both atop the league. That includes blocking a conference-high 5.0 shots per game, up to 6.0 in conference play, led by Amdy Fall and Chris Hooper, who rank first and third, respectively, with averages of 1.9 and 1.5 rejections per contest. St. Francis also leads the league in three-pointers made per game, 7.4, despite the second worst percentage, 30.5. The Terriers are top three in the NEC in rebounding average, rebounding defense and rebounding margin, with four players in the top 20 of the conference, led by Fall's 7.1 per game. Tyreek Jewell paces the offensive attack, averaging 12.4 points, while Hooper adds 11.7 and is atop the league, shooting 62.6 percent. Yunus Hopkinson averages a team-high 2.8 assists and also ranks in the top six of the conference in free throw percentage and three-pointers per contest.
Series History... A series that dates back to Sacred Heart's Division II playing days in 1997, St. Francis Brooklyn is currently in the midst of a series-long six game-winning streak, and has also won nine of the past ten to improve to 20-9 all-time against the Pioneers. Now 3-13 at SFBK, SHU has had much more success in the William H. Pitt Center, where it is 6-7. In addition to the current streak, St. Francis also won six straight from 2003-06. Sacred Heart's best stretch against the Terriers was a four game winning streak from 2008-10.
Last Meeting… St. Francis Brooklyn outscored Sacred Heart 41-18 in the first half, cruising to an 85-67 victory on January 16.Tyreek Jewlell led all players with 23 points, while Chris Hooper and Yunus Hopkinson added 19 and 18, respectively. Amdy Fall stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Cane Broome paced SHU with 18 points, with McKnight and Buovac combining for 27 points and 15 rebounds. The Terriers outshot Sacred Heart by twenty percent, shooting 55.1 percent while holding the Pioneers to just 35.1 percent shooting.
Career Numbers vs. St. Francis Brooklyn...
NAME (GP-GS) PPG RPG APG MPG
Tevin Falzon (5-3) 7.2 4.8 0.8 24.0
Cane Broome (3-3) 14.3 2.7 1.3 33.0
Jordan Allen (3-1) 8.3 4.7 0.3 21.3
Filip Nowicki (3-0) 3.3 3.3 1.0 11.7
Quincy McKnight (1-1) 16.0 7.0 2.0 39.0
Sean Hoehn (1-1) 7.0 1.0 2.0 26.0
Matej Buovac (1-0) 11.0 8.0 1.0 32.0
Eyimofe Edukugho (1-0) 8.0 5.0 - 12.0
Cole Walton (1-0) - 1.0 - 13.0
-Broome has scored at least 12 points in each of his three career games against the Terriers.
-McKnight made a career-best 8-10 from the line on January 16
-Buovac's 11 points in the first meeting of the season are his most in NEC play this season
-Edukugho's eight points on January 16 came in just 12 minutes
The Last Two NEC Months... Since the beginning of February 2015, these two teams have the first and third best NEC regular season record in the league, respectively:
Mount St. Mary's 12-6
St. Francis Brooklyn 12-6
Sacred Heart 11-7
Bryant 9-9
Robert Morris 9-9
Saint Francis U 9-9
Wagner 9-9
LIU Brooklyn 8-10
Fairleigh Dickinson 8-10
Central Connecticut State 3-15
Over the Last Six... Sacred Heart's 4-2 record over its last six games is tied for the best in the conference.
Welcome Back to February... With the victory over LIU Brooklyn in the 2014-15 regular season finale, Sacred Heart ended February 2015 with a 6-2 record, tied for its best February record in the Division I era.
-SHU also had six February wins in 2007 and 2009.
Home Sweet Home...After losing its first three home games of the season, SHU has now won its past two. Despite the 2-3 start in the William H. Pitt Center so far this season, the Pioneers are 6-3 in their last nine on Coach Bike Court, as they entered 2015-16 on a four-game home winning streak.
Finding the Three-Point Stroke... After averaging 3.8 three-pointers per game in its first six NEC contests, Sacred Heart has averaged 8.0 in the previous four, including tying a season-high with ten last Wednesday at LIU. The Pioneers have made at least seven in each of those four games, something they did just three times in the first 17 games of the season.
-SHU has also shot at least 33.3 percent in each of those three games, a mark it eclipsed just five times in the first 17 games of the season.
