FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart men's basketball team recorded season-highs of 98 points, 24 assists, 11 three-pointers and 47 rebounds in Saturday afternoon's eight point win over LIU Brooklyn at the William H. Pitt Center. The victory put a stamp on a sweep of a season-long three-game homestand, as the Pioneers have now won four of five and six and eight to move one game back of first place in the Northeast Conference at 7-5 in league play and 8-15 overall.

Trailing 47-44 at the half, Quincy McKnight quickly scored five points in the first 1:26 to put SHU ahead. LIU Brooklyn tallied five of the next seven to momentarily go back on top, but after Cane Broome made 2-2 at the line with 16:11 remaining, the Pioneers led the rest of the way.

Three times LIU (11-12, 5-7 NEC) cut the deficit to one, including when a Jerome Frink layup made the score 60-59 at the 12:43 mark, but Sacred Heart went on a 10-3 run over the next 3:37 and would lead by at least five the remainder of the game. Tevin Falzon and Jordan Allen scored all ten points in the stretch, capped by Allen's tip in for a 70-62 advantage with 9:06 showing.

The final point in which the Blackbirds got as close as five was when Martin Hermannsson drilled a three-pointer for a 88-83 score with just 1:05 left, but SHU made 10-12 from the line down the stretch to seal the victory.

Two Pioneers finished with double doubles and Sean Hoehn was one assist shy of making it three with 13 points. Allen led SHU with season-highs of 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds while also tying a career-best six assists.  Falzon's double double of 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and ten rebounds was his third in a row.  Broome added 19 points and seven rebounds. Chris Robinson, McKnight and Matej Buovac added nine, eight and eight, respectively.

Sacred Heart made 52.4 percent from the floor in the offensive explosion, including 11-22 from beyond the arch. One game after a season-high 45 rebounds, the Pioneers pulled down 47, 15 of which were offensive for a 14-6 edge in second chance points. The 24 assists were nine more than its previous season-high and equaled its total from the previous two games combined.

SHU held LIU Brooklyn to just 42.6 percent from the floor and locked down in the second half to force the Blackbirds to just 9-30 shooting (30.0 percent). The top free throw shooting team in the conference, LIU made just 64.3 percent from the line (27-42). 

Hermannsson and Aakim Saintil combined to go 19-25 from the line en route to leading LIU with 25 and 23 points, respectively, with Saintil dishing out a game-high 11 assists. Jerome Frink and Joel Hernandez chipped in with 15 and 13, as no other Blackbird scored more than four points.

Sacred Heart visits the team it is tied for fourth place with, Mount St. Mary's, next Thursday for a 7 pm tip.

Noteworthy

•  Sacred Heart's 6-2 record in its last eight games is the best record in the NEC
• The win gave SHU its first sweep of a homestand at least three games long since 2006

Inside the Box

• Sacred Heart's 24 assists were its most against a Division I opponent since dishing out 25 against Monmouth on December 5, 2009
• The 98 points were SHU's most against a Division I opponent in regulation since also scoring 98 at Holy Cross on November 13, 2013
• The 11 three-pointers were its most since making 12 against Bryant on February 2, 2014
  

How it Happened

• First Half
  • The game stayed within three points until LIU Brooklyn jumped out to its largest lead with seven straight points. Hermannsson scored the final five of the flurry, as he followed a three-point play with a transition layup for a 26-19 lead 7:45 in
  • SHU quickly came back with the next five points and neither team lead by more than five points from there
  • LIU had those two five-point leads, the second coming when Saintil  hit a jumper to put the Blackbirds ahead 35-30 at the 6:20 mark
  • Sacred Heart came back to tie it for a seventh time, 39-39, on a Broome layup with 4:04 to go and even took the lead on Allen's layup 1:06 later, but LIU Brooklyn ended the half on an 8-3 surge
  • The Blackbirds first scored five in a row with four Saintil points in 14 seconds providing a 45-41 lead with 1:24 showing
  • Hoehn answered with a triple to pull within one 33 seconds before the half but Hermannsson had the final say, hitting a jumper at the buzzer for the three-point advantage