BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – The Sacred Heart men's basketball team's offense exploded for 87 points Thursday night in an 87-75 win over the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers at Pope Physical Education Center.

Quincy McKnight led all scorers with 26 points, making 9-of-10 free throws. It was his seventh 20-point effort of the season. Joseph Lopez had his sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 16 rebounds, tying a season-high. Matej Buovac improved upon his season-high of 15 points last Saturday at Wagner with 16 points Thursday.

St. Francis Brooklyn (4-14, 2-3 NEC) jumped out to a fast start. Sparked by eight points from Glenn Sanabria, the Terriers took a 10-4 lead with 14:12 remaining. Sacred Heart rallied back with a 9-2 run over the next 3:16 with a Buovac layup giving the Pioneers a 13-12 lead.  The Terriers tied the game with 8:43 to go on a Yunus Hopkinson three, but SHU took over from there.  Led by 11 points from Lopez, the Pioneers were able to build a 10-point lead, 35-25, with 3:13 to play in the first. SHU extended the lead to 14 at halftime, 41-27.

Sacred Heart (7-11, 2-3 NEC) extended its lead to 21 points early in the second half. Back-to-back layups by McKnight and Chris Robinson gave SHU a 50-29 lead with 17:24 left in the game. St. Francis Brooklyn closed the gap to 11, 54-43, at the 13:58 mark on a Hopkinson three. The Pioneers were able to extend their advantage to 18 with 7:31 remaining as Sean Hoehn and De'von Barnett combined for a 10-3 SHU run to make the score 69-51. The Terriers were only able to get as close as 10 the rest of the way.

SHU shot 49.2% from the field in Thursday night's win, holding St. Francis Brooklyn to 42%. The Pioneers also outrebounded the Terriers 45-36 and assisted on 16 of their 32 made baskets. Rasheem Dunn led St. Francis Brooklyn with 18 points and nine rebounds. Hopkinson added 16 points.

The Pioneers close their four-game road swing Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Bryant.

FIRST HALF

- The Terriers opened game on a 7-2 run in the first 4:00.

- SHU's first field goal came at the 13:56 mark on a Buovac three-pointer.

- Buovac and McKnight combined for the Pioneers' first 18 points.

- SHU took its first lead at the 10:56 mark, when a Buovac layup gave the Pioneers a 13-12 lead.

- Lopez scored all 11 of his points in the half in the final 8:00

- The Pioneers closed the half on a 10-2 run.

- SHU held the Terriers to two field goals in the final five minutes.

 - The Pioneers' 14-point halftime lead was their largest this season.

SECOND HALF

- McKnight scored nine points in the first 5:50 to give him 20 for the game.

- The Pioneers' took their largest lead of the game at the 17:24 mark, when McKnight's layup made the score 50-29.

- Sean Hoehn scored eight straight SHU points in a stretch of 2:37, making back-to-back threes to give the Pioneers a 67-50 lead at the 8:49 mark.

- SHU shot 51.5% from the field in the second half, scoring 26 of 46 points in the paint.