BALTIMORE, Md. – The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team came out on top of Loyola, 66-51, Saturday afternoon at UMBC. Tanner Thomas paced the Pioneers with 19 points and three steals and went 3-for-4 from the three-point line.

Records:
SHU: 3-2
Loyola: 1-3

Leaders:
Tanner Thomas: 19 points, 1 block, 3 steals
Alex Sobel: 7 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals
Joey Reilly: 9 points, 2 steals, 3 assists

Of Note:
After the Pioneers opened the game by scoring the first five points, the Greyhounds fought back with an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 8-5. From there, the play evened up as the score sat tied at 11-all by the 12:41 mark. SHU's defense shined for the remainder of the half, as the Pios outscored the Greyhounds 26-11 for the final 7:19, which included a half-ending 9-0 run.

The Sacred Heart run at the end of the half began with back-to-back baskets from Nico Galette. Galette grabbed the rebound off a Greyhounds' missed free-throw and worked his way down the court for the layup. Galette followed that up with a dunk in the next possession. A Thomas three-pointer and a Raheem Solomon layup sent SHU in the halftime break up 37-22.

The first five minutes of the second half went swimmingly for the Pioneers, as they built a game-high 23-point lead, 51-28, by the 15:51 mark. Thomas was again at the center of SHU's success as his three-pointer gave its biggest lead of the game. The Greyhounds tried to chip away at Sacred Heart's advantage but could not get closer than 15 points as SHU held on to take a 66-51 victory. 

Thomas led all players with 19 points this afternoon, shooting 6-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from deep. The Springfield, Mass., native has been on fire to start the season, scoring 17+ points in three of five games. Behind Thomas, SHU saw a balanced attack with six players scoring between nine and six points. 

Milos Ilic led the Greyhounds with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Up Next: The Pioneers return home to face Binghamton Tuesday, November 21, at 11:30 a.m.