FAIRFIELD – The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team fell to Saint Francis U, 77-68, in Northeast Conference action on Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. The Red Flash used 15-16 shooting from the free throw line in the final 4:42 to clinch the victory after SHU had cut the lead to three. Earl Brown led the way with a 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Mailik Harmon recorded game-highs in both points and assists, with 25 and five, as SFU improves to 9-6 and 3-1 in the NEC. Evan Kelley led the Pioneers with 15 in the loss, which is the sixth in seven games and drops them to 7-10 and 1-3 in the NEC. 

Trailing by as many as nine midway through the second half, Sacred Heart cut the lead to, 58-55, with 5:15 remaining after Jordan Allen made 1-2 from the line. That foul shot capped five unanswered by the Pioneers, which was started with four straight points from Cane Broome. From there, the Red Flash sealed the game from the charity stripe, starting with four straight from Brown over the next two possessions to push the lead back to seven with 4:03 left. Brown went 8-8 from the line in the final 4:42, while Harmon added 5-6. SHU twice cut the lead to five, at the 3:54 and 3:02 mark, but could get no closer as SFU answered both times the next time down the court.

SHU outrebounded the Red Flash, 44-35, but Saint Francis held a significant advantage in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage. SFU shot 22-45 (48.9 percent) from the field and 7-17 (41.2 percent) from the beyond the arch. The Pioneers could only manage a 24-65 shooting night (36.9 percent), while making only three trifectas on 13 attempts. The Red Flash outscored Sacred Heart, 27- 17, from the foul line and shot thirty percent better, 78.8 percent – 58.6 percent.

Up 31-29 at the half, SFU scored six straight to take a, 37-29, lead just 2:36 out of the locker room. The Red Flash held SHU scoreless for over four minutes, before Kelley finally made a layup to cut the lead back down to six at the 15:48 mark. Following a layup by Greg Brown to extend the lead back to eight, Kelley hit a three-pointer and Tevin Falzon added a tip-in one minute later to get Sacred Heart within three, 39-36, with 13:21 on the clock. Brown would answer on the ensuing possession, converting a layup and foul shot to regain the six-point lead.

Three was as close as Sacred Heart could get throughout the entire half, as Steve Glowiak nailed a trifecta with 11:39 remaining to make the score, 44-41. After Brown converted yet another and one on the next possession, Chris Robinson responded with his own three-point play after an offensive rebound. The free throw cut the deficit to three once again with 10:45 showing, 50-47. Ben Milllaud-Meunier would hit a three the next time down the court though, and the Pioneers would get no closer than five until Allen's foul shot.

Phil Gaetano tallied two assists to move into second place all-time at SHU with 645 for his career, passing Carl Winfree, who had 644.

Broome and De'von Barnett joined Kelley in double figures. Broome scored 12 and added seven rebounds, while Barnett had 11. Falzon tied Brown with a game-high eleven rebounds, including nine in the first half for his third straight double-digit rebounding game. Ronnie Drinnon was the only other SFU player in double figures, contributing 11 points as well as nine rebounds.

The game got off to a slow start, with both teams going scoreless for the first 2:31, until Broome made a free throw at the 17:29 mark. Jackson responded with a three pointer for the Red Flash on the next possession down to start a 10-2 run, as SHU began the game 1-10 from the field. After Kelley made a jumper, SFU scored the next seven, going up 10-3 on back-to-back trifectas by Harmon and Drinnon, the latter with 14:51 on the clock. SHU answered with a 9-2 spurt of its own to tie the game back up at 12-12 just 2:47 later, ending with Allen's layup with 12:04 showing.

Neither team would lead by more than three the rest of the half, as there were eight ties and five scoring changes before the teams went to the locker room. After Saint Francis went up 22-19 on a three-point play by Drinnon with 6:34 left, Sacred Heart responded with six straight points of its own to gain its largest lead of the game, 25-22 with 3:26 remaining.

SFU took the 31-29 lead into the locker room after outscoring the Pioneers, 9-4, over the last 3:26. Harmon made two free throws 28 second before the break to give the Red Flash the two-point lead.

The two teams will meet again next Friday for a 7 pm tip in Loretto, Pennsylvania.