NEW YORK, N.Y. – A dominant second half led the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team past Columbia, 79-69, on Monday night. The Pioneers outscored the Lions, 47-36, in the second frame thanks to 16 second-half points from Tyler Thomas and 11 from Nico Galette. 
 
Records:
Sacred Heart: 4-7
Columbia: 3-9
 
Top Performers:
Tyler Thomas: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal 
Nico Galette: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Alex Watson: 10 points
 
Up Next:
The Pioneers wrap up their seven-game road stretch at UMass Lowell on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
Of Note:
It was neck-and-neck in the first half with five lead changes and seven instances of an even score. Graduate student Alex Watson kept the Pioneers afloat with 10 points in the first 20 minutes as SHU trailed, 33-32, at the halftime break. 
 
Eight-straight points to open the second half from the Lions forced coach Latina to take a timeout. The quick reset was all the Pioneers needed to regroup as they erupted on a 27-4 run and never looked back. 
 
Sacred Heart dominated the paint, scoring more than half of its points from inside the key with 42. Most of the team's paint points came in the second half as the Pioneers tallied 32 which led to a 63.3 second-half field goal percentage (21-33). 
 
Despite being held to his lowest scoring output of the season with six, senior Aaron Clarke found other ways to contribute as he dished out a career-best eight assists in 27 minutes of action. 
 
Thomas grew to 19 points with just one three-pointer on the night as he went nine-for-13 from the field and just one-of-two from long distance. He also matched Galette as the team leader on the glass with five. Galette tied his career-high of 18 points shooting eight-for-13 from the field and two-for-three from behind the arc.