LORETTO, Pa.—
Nico Galette recorded his third double-double of the season and
Alex Sobel scored 17 points as the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team fell 75-71 on the road at Saint Francis in Northeast Conference action on Thursday evening. Five players scored in double figures for the Pioneers.
Records:
SHU: 10-11, 4-2 NEC
Saint Francis: 7-13, 2-5 NEC
Leaders:
Alex Sobel: 17 points, 6 rebounds
Nico Galette: 15 points, 13 rebounds
Joey Reilly: 14 points, 5 assists
Kyle McGee: 10 points
Aidan Carpenter: 10 points
Of Note:
Trailing by eight points with just under two minutes to go, Galette and
Kyle McGee scored six straight points to pull the Pioneers within two, 73-71, with 22.9 seconds left in the game. The Red Flash added two more to their lead, and SHU could not score as the clock expired and handed the Pioneers their second conference loss of the season, 75-71.
Neither team led by more than four points throughout the opening 18 minutes of play. A Red Flash layup at 14:42 put SFU ahead 12-8, but
Aidan Carpenter and
Joey Reilly scored the next five points to put SHU ahead 13-12. From there, Saint Francis went ahead by four, but back-to-back layups from
Raymond Espinal-Guzman and McGee gave the Pioneers a 20-19 lead at 6:23 in the first half.
After a 25-25 tie at 4:27, Sobel was responsible for the following eight points for the Pioneers to close out the half with a 33-30 lead.
Galette and Sobel scored six points right out of the break for SHU to take a 39-32 advantage early in the second half. However, the Red Flash started to get hot, making back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 40 at 16:36.
An and-one, three-point play by McGee gave the Pios a 45-42 lead, but it would be the last time SHU would lead. After a 46-46 tie at 13:11, Saint Francis went on an 11-2 run, jumping ahead 57-48. Eventually, the Red Flash went up by 10, but the Pioneers started to claw their way back. A Carpenter triple cut the deficit to four at 2:47, but with just under two minutes on the clock, Saint Francis extended their lead to eight, 73-65. Despite pulling within two with, 22.9 left on the clock, SFU walked away with the win.
Saint Francis shot 62.96 % in the second half, enabling them to outscore SHU 45-38 in the half. Sobel and Galette both shot 5-for-9 from the field. The game saw seven ties and 10 lead changes.
Up Next:
Sacred Heart will play its second straight road game, taking on FDU on Saturday, January 27, at 2:00 pm.
