Jare'l Spellman collected a missed shot and sank a hook shot with 1.6 seconds remaining to propel the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team to a 61-59 Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinal win over Mount St. Mary's. The victory improves the Pioneers to 20-12 on the season, while the Mountaineers fall to 11-21.

E.J. Anosike recorded his 18^th double-double of the season, with a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double. He was one of four Pioneers to reach double-digits, with a 15-point effort from Koreem Ozier. Aaron Clarke scored 13 and Kinnon Larose added 10. Spellman's game-winning basket were his only points of the game, but he had 11 boards in the win.

SHU advances to face the second-seed, Saint Francis U, in the NEC Semifinal on Saturday. The game, in Loretto, Pa, will tip-off at noon

Turning Point

• Brandon Leftwich made 102 free throws with 3:24 to play to give Mount a 57-54 advantage
• E.J. Anosike made two free throws at the 2:55 mark and Clarke scored a driving layup with 2:12 remaining to put the Pioneers in front, 58-57
• Clarke made a free throw 45 seconds later for a two-point lead, that Damian Chong Qui erased with a pair of free throws of his own, with 19 ticks left
• Spellman collected a miss from Clarke with two seconds remaining and sank a little hook shot for the game-winner

Pioneer Points

• The Pioneers outrebounded Mount 47-23 on the day, and had more offensive boards, 24, than total Mount rebounds
• Anosike had 10 of his 15 boards on the offensive glass as SHU finished with a 19-0 advantage in second chance points
• Ozier and LaRose both connected on 3-6 from behind the arc, and scored nine and seven points, respectively, in the second-half
• Clarke was good on 3-4 from the free throw line on the day

By The Numbers

• Chong Qui led all scorers on Wednesday, with an 18-point effort, and was joined in double figures by Nana Opoku, who tallied 11
• Chong Qui also had seven assists
• Both teams took care of the ball, with just eight turnovers by the Pioneers and nine from Mount
• Opoku added three blocked shots to his game line
• SHU finished shooting 37.1 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from downtown and 50 percent from the line
• Mount shot 46.5 percent for the game, 47.4 percent from behind the arc and 58.8 percent from the line

First Half

• The Pioneers opened the game with seven consecutive points, ­as the Mount turned the ball over on its first four possessions
• Anosike had five of those points, with a conventional three-point play (18:08) and a second-chance basket at 17:26
• Jalen Gibbs put the Mount on the board with a three at the 17:25 mark and Omar Habwe hit from behind the arc at 16:24 to cut the Pioneers lead to one, 7-6
• Ozier hit his first from behind the arc at 15:39, for the 10-6 advantage
• Mount rattled off a 12-4 run over the next 4:46, including a three from Habwe, that gave the Mountaineers an 18-14 lead
• SHU scored the next six points, with a Chaylyn Martin free throw and a LaRose triple to tie the score, 18-18, before Zach Pfaffenberger put the Pioneers on top, 20-18, with 9:54 to play in the half
• Clarke rained a pair of free throws, for a24-20 lead at the 8:06 mark
• An Opoku free throw at 7:52 and a three-pointer from Jalen Gibbs tied the score 24-24
• Ozier's second triple of the game, put the Pioneers back on top, 27-26 at 6:05, before the Mount finished the half on a 7-1 run, taking a 33-228 lead into the break

Second Half

• Ozier opened the second-half scoring with a layup 62 seconds into the half
• Anosike followed with a layup of his own 62 seconds after that and the Pioneers were within one, 33-32
• Ado Morse drained a three at 17:37 to push the advantage ack to four, 36-32
• Ozier (17:11) and Chong Qui (16:37) traded baskets to keep the advantage four
• Larose answered, hitting his second three of the game at 13:59 and Ozier knocked down a three at 13:14, to pull SHU back within a point, 41-40
• Ozier got the Pioneers within a point on his third triple of the game, at 13:11, and after a Jefferson basket, Anosike scored with 12:04 to play, with the score 43-42 Mount
• Chong Qui hit his first triple of the game 24 ticks later to again make the lead four, 46-42
• LaRose answered with a three of his own at 11:09 that Opoku answered at 10:41 that gave Mount a 49-45 lead
• Ozier hit a contested jumper with 10:20 to play, to again bring the Pioneers within a possession, 49-47
• Pfaffenberger collected a SHU miss and laid it off the glass, tying the score 49-49 with 8:14 to play
• Chong Qui gave Mount five straight, with a driving layup to make it 54-49 with 7:05 to play
• A LaRose free throw started a 5-0 run for the Pioneers, highlighted by a monster Anosike dunk and a Clarke floater, tying the score 54-54 with 4:34 to play
• Morse made two free throws at 4:04 and Brandon Leftwich hit 1-of-2 at 3:24 to make the lead, 57-54
• Anosike started the Pioneers game-winning run with two free throws and the Pioneers defense held Mount to 0-5 from the field down the stretch to secure the win