LORETTO, Penn. – Trailing by 17 at halftime and by as many as 19 early in the second half, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball comeback fell just short when Earl Brown tipped in a miss at the buzzer to win, 79-78, at the Maurice Stokes Athletics Center on Friday night. The game-winner came after Jordan Allen had given SHU just its second lead of the half, 78-77, after scoring off an inbound with less than eight seconds remaining. Evan Kelley scored 16 of his game-high 22 in the second half and shot 11-17 from the floor to lead the Pioneers, who have lost seven of eight games to fall to 7-11 and 1-4 in the Northeast Conference. Ronnie Drinnon led the first place Red Flash with 16 points and 15 rebounds as they improve to 10-6 overall and 4-1 in league play.

Sacred Heart took its first lead, 71-70, of the second half after a Cane Broome's three-pointer with 5:32 remaining. SFU came back to score the next three to regain a two point advantage after a Stephon Whyatt free throw with 4:30 on the clock. Two free throws by Allen just 16 seconds later to tie the game at 73 would be the last points SHU would score until there were 38 seconds left.  Those points, a three-point basket by Phil Gaetano, tied the game at 76-76 after Greg Brown's layup had given SFU a three-point lead with 1:35 showing. E. Brown then hit 1-2 from the foul line to put Saint Francis U up, 77-76, with 14 seconds remaining.

SHU used a 20-32 second half shooting performance (62.5 percent) to shoot 51.5 percent for the game (34-66). The Pioneers also held a slight rebounding advantage, 38-36, and held the Red Flash to 27-63 (42.9 percent) from the floor. SFU outscored Sacred Heart, 17-6, from the line though, and used an 18-36 shooting performance, including 7-15 from beyond the arch, to jump out to the 17 point first half lead.

Leading, 49-32, going into the locker room, Drinnon made two free throws 17 seconds into the second half to push SFU's lead to 19. SHU then scored the next eight points to get within eleven after a layup by Broome at the 18:16 mark. Kelley had scored the first six points prior to Broome's layup. Ollie Jackson answered with a three pointer the next possession down to regain a 14-point advantage with 17:58 left.

After Drinnon hit a jumper to go up, 59-47, with 14:18 showing, the Pioneers scored seven straight over the next 2:20 to cut the deficit to just five after a Kelley jumper. De'von Barnett started the seven unanswered with a three-point play, which was part of a 22-10 run over the first 7:38 of the second half.

The Pioneers got within two for the first time after a Kelley jumper with 9:55 remaining and again after Allen's jumper fell 39 seconds later. Each time SFU responded, the latter on G. Brown's layup with 8:42 left. After that layup, Sacred Heart scored four straight to tie the game for the first time when Barnett made two straight jumpers. The second made the score, 68-68, with 6:09 showing. G. Brown came down and went 2-2 from the line to break the tie before Broome's three the next time down the court.

Barnett and Allen combined to shoot 16-21 from the floor, scoring 19 and 17 respectively. Barnett also added a team-high eight rebounds, while Allen recorded seven. Tevin Falzon had eight rebounds as well. Also in double figures for SHU was Broome with 13. Gaetano, who had seven, was the only other Pioneer to score.

G.Brown had 14 points, on 6-11 shooting, and six rebounds for the Red Flash, both second on the team behind Drinnon. Jackson and Whyatt each had ten, while E. Brown scored nine points to go along with six boards.

The two teams started at a furious pace, with SHU scoring five straight to take its largest lead, 14-10, just 4:41 into the game. Saint Francis responded with seven unanswered to go up, 18-14, with 12:34 left.

After the Pioneers tied the game at 18 with a three-point play from Allen, SFU scored nine unanswered ending with a four point play by Dominique Major to go up, 27-18, with 10:12 showing. After a Barnett layup, the Red Flash this time scored seven straight to go up, 35-20, capped with a steal, transition layup, and free throw by Ben Millaud-Meunier at the 8:20 mark. That 15-2 flurry was the start of Saint Francis', 31-14, run over the final 11:15 to end the half.

Allen made a jumper with 7:18 remaining to get SHU back within 13, but the Red Flash again scored seven straight to take its biggest lead, 44-24, of the game after Jackson made a layup with 3:17 showing. They again went up 20 on G. Brown's layup 1:07 later. Kelley made the score, 49-32, with his jumper nine seconds before the half.

The Pioneers will look to split their Pennsylvania road trip when they travel to Robert Morris for a 1 pm tip on Sunday. The Colonials fell to 7-10 and 3-2 in the NEC after a, 68-63, loss to St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday night.