FAIRFIELD, Conn.— No. 4 Sacred Heart University men's basketball handled its home court in the Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, besting No. 5 Wagner College by a 67-55 final score on Wednesday evening at the Pitt Center. 

Records:
#4 Sacred Heart: 16-16 Overall
#5 Wagner: 15-13 Overall

Top Performers:
Tanner Thomas: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal
Nico Galette: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
Joey Reilly: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Raheem Solomon: 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block

Of Note:
The Seahawks defense was clicking over the first 6:08 of tonight's quarterfinal, as they held SHU to 1-for-6 (16.7%) shooting from the floor to build a 10-3 lead. However, the Pios' offense would not stay down long, as a 14-6 run by the home team gave them the lead, 17-16, with 5:32 left in the half. Mike Sixsmith helped fuel the surge with two three-pointers. 

The two teams traded buckets over the next 3:36 until Sacred Heart built a half-high advantage of five, 25-20, which remained the halftime score. 

Sacred Heart opened the second half on fire, scoring eight in a row after Wagner tallied the first two points of the half to build a 33-22 advantage. Joey Reilly hit his first three of the contest over the run, while Nico Galette capped it with a steal and layup after a Seahawk timeout. 

Wagner answered by outscoring the Pios, 14-7, over the next 4:48 to cut its deficit to 38-36 with 12:22 remaining. Following some more back-and-forth play by both teams, the Pioneers built a 53-44 lead with 6:21 left after putting together a 7-0 run. Galette scored five of the seven points, sinking two free throws and hitting a three-pointer after a nasty pump fake sent his defender flying out of bounds. 

A Raheem Solomon trey put the Pios up double figures, 56-46, with 5:45 left. SHU held on to the lead for the remainder of the game, as a Reilly hard-fought and-one with 1:28 remaining iced the contest and sent the Pios to the NEC Semis. 

Up Next:
Sacred Heart will now head to No. 1 Merrimack College on Saturday, March 4, to play the Warriors in the NEC Semifinals at 6:00 PM in North Andover, Mass.