EMMITSBURG, Md. – Aaron Clarke scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half as the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team prevailed in its Northeast Conference contest on Saturday. The Pioneers won the opening game of a back-to-back NEC series for the first time this year as they defeated Mount St. Mary's, 61-58.

Records:
Mount St. Mary's 5-7, 4-4 NEC
Sacred Heart: 6-5, 6-4 NEC

Top Performers:
Aaron Clarke (SHU): 16 points
Bryce Johnson (SHU): 12 points, 8 reb
Mike Sixsmith (SHU): 9 points

Up Next:
The teams wrap up the two-game set on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Of Note:
For the time being, Sacred Heart has jumped ahead of Mount for the fourth spot in the NEC Tournament.

Sacred Heart built a 10-point lead midway through the second half on a pair of Clarke free throws, but the Mountaineers worked their way back into the game. Josh Reaves made back-to-back three pointers to tie the game with 6:36 remaining but Mount could not manage to take the lead.

Bryce Johnson's jumper pushed the lead back to five then Clarke drilled a three with 2:36 remaining to get the lead to four, but the Pioneers could not put the Mountaineers away. 

Tyler Thomas – the leading scorer in the NEC – was held to just seven points but they were some of the biggest shots. He stopped Mount's 10-0 run with a three-point play then with SHU holding onto a 55-53 lead with a minute to play he put back Clarke's missed shot to extend the lead to 57-53.

Clarke knocked down four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line and canned two three-pointers. Johnson just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight boards. Mike Sixsmith scored all of his nine points in the first half. 

Sacred Heart took advantage of its trips to the free throw line going 14-of-15 from the charity stripe while the hosts only managed to go to the line four times. Mount gave SHU troubles on the glass, holding a 43-34 rebounding that included 24 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points.