ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- In its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship debut, as the seventh seed, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team defeated 10th seed Fairfield University 71-58 on Tuesday evening and advanced to the quarterfinal on Wednesday evening. 

Amiri Stewart led three players in double figures, and Bryce Johnson recorded his 1,000th career point, finishing the day with eight in total. 

Before this season, Sacred Heart had never defeated Fairfield and has now defeated them in three straight meetings.  

Records:
Sacred Heart: 15-17, (10-10 MAAC)
Fairfield: 12-20, (8-12 MAAC)

Leaders:
Amiri Stewart: 18 points, 8 rebounds 
Tanner Thomas: 14 points, 6 rebounds 
Anquan Hill: 12 points, 5 rebounds

Of Note:
Sacred Heart opened the game with an 11-2 run and never let up, leading by as many as 14 through the opening half. 

A Griffin Barrouk triple gave the Pioneers their first double-figure lead of the day at 12:41, 22-12. Stewart scored his 10th point of the day off a three-pointer to push Sacred Heart ahead by 13, 29-16. 

Fairfield made a three-pointer of their own to pull within 11, but a Tanner Thomas trey extended the Sacred Heart lead to 14. The Stags pulled within eight with 1:56 left in the half, but Taj Bryant made a layup with 53 seconds to go to give SHU a 39-29 lead at the half. 

Fairfield scored four straight points to open the second half, cutting its deficit to four, but a Stewart layup pushed Sacred Heart back ahead by eight, 41-33. The Stags once again answered, this time pulling with three but an 8-0 run gave the Pios a 49-38. 

The Stags pulled with six at 9:06 in the second frame, but four straight free throws for Stewart gave the Pios a 10-point edge. The teams continued trading baskets, but Sacred Heart continued to answer to maintain a double-digit lead. 

Stewart was perfect from the charity stripe (5-5) while going 6-for-13 from the field. The Pioneers shot 42.2% (27-64) from the field and hit 10 triples in the victory. 

Up Next: 
Sacred Heart will play in a MAAC quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 12, at 8:30 pm, taking on the second seed, Merrimack, at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.