Highlights Courtesy of Bryant Athletics

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Bryant's Joe O'Shea hit an off balance three at the regulation buzzer to force overtime, and after Evan Kelley's three-point play with 15.7 seconds remaining sent the game to a second extra period, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team eventually fell to the Bulldogs, 91-85, in the Northeast Conference Quarterfinal held at the Chace Athletic Center on Thursday night. After the Pioneers went up two, 82-80, after a Kelley free throw with 3:04 to go in the second overtime, Bryant scored seven unanswered to ultimately seal the victory. Following a 5-26 year in 2013-14, SHU finishes its season at 15-17 and 9-9 in NEC play, which are both its most overall and conference wins since the 2008-09 season. 

Neither team gained more than a two-point advantage in the first overtime period until Dyami Starks broke a 70-70 tie with his three-point play with 2:03 remaining. Phil Gaetano, Bosko Kostur, and Jordan Allen then all made 2-2 from the charity stripe in consecutive possessions to bring the score to 75-74, Bryant. Shane McLaughlin put the Bulldogs up three for the third time, 77-74, with his driving layup with just 29 seconds on the clock. That setup Kelley's own driving layup fourteen seconds later, and after draining the ensuing free throw to finish the three-point play, the game was tied once more. Starks missed a long two-point jumper at the buzzer to send the game to a second extra period. 

The Pioneers twice took a two-point lead in the second overtime. First after Kelley made the first basket 29 seconds in, and again when he made 1-2 from the line with 3:04 showing. Curtis Oakley's layup 21 seconds later tied it up sparked the seven straight. Following a SHU miss, Shane McLaughlin made 2-2 at the line with 1:48 left to give the Bulldogs the lead for good. O'Shea then made a layup with 1:09 remaining and went 1-2 at the line with 35 seconds to go to cap the game-winning run.

Sacred Heart, who led by as many as eleven in the first, and did not trail until the 6:30 mark of the second, was by led Cane Broome, who led all scorers with 23 points in addition to four assists. He was one of six Pioneers in double figures.  Scoring ten, Gaetano was one assist shy of his third double double in four games, against zero turnovers in 43 minutes. Kelley added 15, including 7 in the overtime periods, five rebounds, and five assists. De'von Barnett contributed 14 on a perfect 6-6 shooting, despite only playing 20 minutes after fouling out towards the end of the second half. Allen, and Steve Glowiak scored ten each, as Alllen led SHU with six boards, and Glowiak and Barnett added five caroms each.

O'Shea led Bryant with a career-high 23, 19 of which were after the first half. He went 10-12 from the line, and a near perfect 9-10 following halftime. Starks added 22, while McLaughlin finished with 18 and five helpers. Kostur and Dan Garvin were each one rebound shy of a double double, as the two ended the contest with 12 and 9 points respectively.

O'Shea's trifecta at the buzzer came after Sacred Heart had taken the three-point lead thanks to six unanswered points. Following an O'Shea tip in with 2:04 remaining to put the Bulldogs up three, Broome started the comeback with a layup at the 1:20 mark. After forcing a Bryant ten second violation, the Pioneers missed a chance to take the lead, and were forced to foul McLaughlin. He missed the front end of a one and one to give SHU yet another chance, which it converted. Kelley's layup on a backdoor cut, which was set up by Gaetano, with just 39 seconds to go put the Pioneers up 61-60. Following a Bryant miss, Glowiak drained 2-2 from the line, putting Sacred Heart up three with just 12 seconds left in regulation. The Pioneers forced another miss, but the ensuing rebound was battered around to Garvin, who found O'Shea at the left wing, where he buried it while falling forward.

The Bulldogs outrebounded SHU, 45-38, including grabbing 20 offensive rebounds that led to a, 22-9, advantage in second chance points. Bryant also made six more free throws, 24-18, shooting 82.8 percent for the game, including going 15-16 in the two overtimes. Sacred Heart made 78.3 percent of their foul shots, and also shot an impressive 10-13 in the extra periods. The Pioneers did outshoot Bryant, 44.8 percent to 40.8, but the Bulldogs made two more threes, 9-7, while taking four less attempts, 30-26. Bryant went 7-14 from beyond the arch after the break, while SHU managed to only go 2-17 after making 5-13 in the first.

Up eight at the half, Sacred Heart scored only four points in the first 7:07 out of the break, allowing Bryant to climb back in it with 15-7 run to tie the game at the 10:41 mark. McLaughlin's jumper capped five in a row, as well as a 10-3 flurry. After empty trips for both teams, Allen's layup to put SHU back up two was the first of four consecutive possessions in which both teams scored. Garvin's layup with 8:24 remaining tied the game back up at 49.

The next basket 1:54 later would be Bryant's first lead of the game. Oakley hit a three pointer at the shot clock buzzer to put the Bulldogs ahead 52-49. That was the first of four consecutive triples, as two successive turnovers allowed Gaetano to tie it back up for a first time. Following an O'Shea response, Gaetano was clutch once again, as his jumper from beyond the arch with 4:51 left knotted the score at 55. Bryant and Sacred Heart both went 2-2 from the line before Garvin made a free throw and O'Shea's tip in gave Bryant it's three point advantage.  

SHU scored the first basket of the game and did not trail until late in the second, as the two teams traded points early for two ties. Following a Broome three pointer to make the score 7-4 2:21 into the game, the Pioneers held on to the lead for the remainder of the half. The Bulldogs would twice cut the deficit to one, first 14 seconds after Broome's triple, and again after a Garvin layup at the 15:05 mark brought the score to 11-10. 

Following that Garvin layup, Glowiak nailed a trifecta with 13:47 on the clock to spark a 9-2 run. Oakley answered the Glowiak basket the next possession down the court to get back within two, but from there, Sacred Heart score six unanswered. Broome hit back to back three point baskets 12 seconds apart, the latter with 12:05 showing, to push the Pioneer advantage to 20-12. 

After the two teams traded triples, Bryant would pull within four, 23-19, the closest it would get the remainder of the half, following back to back layups from McLaughlin and Starks, the latter of which was with 10:01 remaining. SHU took control from there with a 13-6 flurry, three times taking a game-high 11-point lead. The Pioneers first scored seven in a row, with Allen's layup with 6:57 to go giving them a 30-19 advantage. Following four consecutive from each team, Barnett made the lead 11 again, 34-23, 4:51 before the break. Exchanging baskets over the final few minutes, a McLaughlin jumper 1:22 ahead of the half was the final score of the first, bringing the score to 38-30 heading into the locker room.