Sacred Heart
9-15 (4-7NEC)
Fairleigh Dickinson
10-12 (8-3NEC)
McKnight Leads SHU To 74-70 Win At Fairleigh Dickinson
2/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Sacred Heart men's basketball team snapped a four-game losing skid Thursday night with a 74-70 win over the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at Stratis Arena.
With the game tied at 70-70 in the final minute, Joseph Lopez put in a layup with 0:31 left to put Sacred Heart ahead 72-70. The Knights missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer on their next possession, with Quincy McKnight pulling down the rebound. McKnight then missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Chris Robinson corralled the miss and was fouled. Robinson made two free throws to seal the win.
McKnight led Sacred Heart with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. It was his second double-double of the season. Mario Matasovic had 10 points in his first start as a Pioneer, with Charles Tucker Jr. and Sean Hoehn each scoring 10 points. Robinson had nine points and a career-high nine rebounds off the bench, with Buovac adding nine points as well.
FIRST HALF
- Fairleigh Dickinson (10-12, 8-3 NEC) opened the game on a 9-0 run over the first 3:13, with Stephan Jiggets scoring the last five points.
- Sacred Heart (9-15, 4-7 NEC) responded with a 14-2 run over the next 3:26 to take a 14-11 lead. Buovac and McKnight scored 10 of the 14 points as the Pioneers forced five Knights turnovers during that stretch. SHU was also 6-for-6 at the line during that run.
- The Pioneers broke a 27-27 tie at the 6:26 mark with six straight points from Hoehn and Matasovic, taking a 33-27 lead with 5:37 to play.
- Back-to-back three-pointers by Darian Anderson highlighted a 12-3 FDU run that put the Knights ahead 39-36 with 1:28 left in the half.
- SHU closed the gap to one, 39-38, with 1:05 remaining on a pair of Matasovic layups. He finished the half with 10 points, going 6-for-6 at the foul line. As a team, Sacred Heart made 13-of-15 free throws in the first half.
SECOND HALF
- Sparked by back-to-back three-pointer by Tucker, the Pioneers opened the second half on an 8-0 run to go up 46-41.
- FDU cut the deficit to two twice, making the score 50-48 on a Darian Anderson layup at the 13:38 mark. Sacred Heart then went on a 6-1 run over the next 1:46 to take a 56-49 lead, its largest of the game.
- Trailing 60-53, the Knights went on a 12-2 run over 5:57 to take a 65-62 lead with 5:22 remaining. Anderson and Jiggetts combined for 10 of the 12 FDU points. SHU was 1-for-7 from the field with four turnovers during that stretch.
- McKnight scored six straight points for the Pioneers to tie the game 67-67 with 3:00 left. After Mike Holloway split two free throws, Buovac put Sacred Heart ahead 70-68 with 1:38 to go.
- After Darnell Edge made two free throws to tie the game 70-70, Lopez put in a layup with 0:31 left to give SHU a 72-70 lead. Robinson then made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to make the final score 74-70.
SHU shot 39.7% from the field, but was 80% at the free throw line. The Pioneers dominated the glass, outrebounding FDU 42-28. Jiggetts and Anderson each scored 20 points for the Knights.
The Pioneers return to Coach Bike Court at the Pitt Center on Saturday, Feb. 4 to take on Bryant at 3:30 p.m.
