FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The odds were stacked against the Sacred Heart after falling to Mount St. Mary's in largest margin of defeat, 98-59, earlie this year. Tonight, the Pioneers bounced back and were triumphant, topping the Mountaineers, 77-65, at home on Thursday night to snap a five-game losing streak. SHU is now tied for sixth in the Northeast Conference standings after tonight's win.  
 
Records:
Sacred Heart: 9-19, 5-12
Mount St. Mary's: 12-15, 8-7
 
Top Performers:
Aaron Clarke: 21 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds
Nico Galette: 17 points, 5 rebounds
Tyler Thomas: 14 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Alex Watson: 10 points 
 
Up Next:
The Pioneers host Saint Francis on Saturday for Senior Day at 2 p.m. on NEC Front Row. 
 
Of Note:
A 13-2 run by Mount St. Mary's midway through the first half gave the Mountaineers its largest lead of the night, 27-17, which was short-lived. Bryce Johnson immediately responded in the next possession with back-to-back layups to spark a 9-2 swing, capped by an Aaron Clarke three. The run brought the game back within single digits, 29-26, with just under three minutes remaining.
 
Sacred Heart had a chance to take the lead in the first half but missed five from the foul line, shooting 4-of-9 in the first 20 minutes. As a result, the Pioneers trailed by just two at the halftime break, 33-31. 
 
The Pioneers came out hot to start the second half as they scored five unanswered point to take the lead and never looked back. After hitting just three threes in the first half, the Red & White came out of the locker room and shot 6-of-11, half of which came from Nico Galette who went a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. SHU also made the Mount work for every basket as they only sent the Mountaineers to the line four times, which resulted in just three points. Mount St. Mary's shot just 38.9% (14-36) from the field in the second half and just 7.7% (1-13) from three. 
 
Four players tallied double digits for the Pioneers led by Clarke with his sixth 21-point performance of the season. The senior point guard shot 4-of-6 for three and posted a perfect 3-for-3 clip from the stripe. He also contributed five assists and four rebounds in the process. 
 
Thanks to 13 second-half points, Galette tallied 17 off 6-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 from distance. Junior Tyler Thomas trailed with 14 and sits just 35 points away from the 1,000-point mark. Thomas also added four assists. 
 
Graduate student Alex Watson pitched in 10 points off 3-of-6 shooting. When Watson contributes double-figure scoring, the Pioneers are now 6-4. 
 
Sacred Heart is now tied for sixth in the NEC standings with Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis and Central Connecticut.