Led by Clarke, Sacred Heart Speeds up the Tempo in Bounce Back Win

In their 18-point loss to St. Francis on Thursday night, Sacred Heart got clamped by the Red Flash on the defensive end. The Pioneers managed to muster only ten points over the final ten minutes and turned a five-point deficit into what turned out to be a deflating loss.

After the loss, head coach Anthony Latina explained how he needed to do a better job as a coach continue to help his young team avoid scoring droughts like the one they endured.

Latina made sure his team brought their running shoes to the Pitt Center, along with lean on their experience in a bounce back 82-70 win over St. Francis to earn another split in conference play.

Sacred Heart had 23 points in transition in the win, a significant increase after having just 4 the night before.

Sacred Heart’s biggest struggle in their loss to St. Francis in game one was their seemingly stagnant offensive sets. Latina believed his team got open shots, but weren’t getting the friendly home court bounces.

Friday afternoon, they made sure to capitalize on their run-out opportunities before St. Francis could recover defensively.

“That was one of the offensive adjustments, if you want to call it that,” said Latina. “I told the guys it was like a grudge match last night. Everything was five-on-five. We have to loosen this game out a little bit. If we can get the first rebound, we have to sprint the floor.”

As a result of their fast paced offense, Latina would often throw a mix of three guards on the floor as a way to get up and down faster after defensive stops. Combinations containing Aaron Clarke, Mike Sixsmith, Quest Harris, and Alex Watson would be put together to get numerous ball handlers on the floor at once.

Part of that game plan was to have more speed and ball handling on the floor, but it was to also get countless players minutes. Latina alluded to freshmen Nico Galette, Bryce Johnson, and Quest Harris and their progression as the season has gone on.

Another big piece to Sacred Heart’s offensive turnaround was junior Aaron Clarke’s presence. Clarke had missed two games before only scoring 2 points in 15 minutes in game one against St. Francis. On Friday, shades of a typical “AC” showed.

Even while on a minutes restriction, Clarke poured in a season-high 23 points, providing a much needed established scoring option behind Tyler Thomas.

The minutes restriction seemed to disappear as a once 18-point Sacred Heart lead turned into a six point lead with 4:53 to play. Clarke saw an opportunity to step up, both in the scoring column and setting up teammates.

“I’ve always been the type of player where I feel like if I’m being aggressive, I’m going to get my teammates involved regardless,” said Clarke. “The floor is going to be open for me, and when they start guarding me my teammates are going to be open. When I am playing aggressive that’s when I’m playing my best.”

As for the knee, Clarke says he woke up feeling good and it was a “thumbs up or thumbs down” conversation with Latina as to how long he could stay on the court.

Sacred Heart ends the first half of their conference schedule with a 5-4 mark, much more successful than people imagined prior to the start of the season. Their record through the first nine games puts them in sole possession of fifth place.

Sacred Heart also improves to 4-4 in back to back games against conference opponents, with their other win coming from a stand-alone game against Central Connecticut.

Next up for the Pioneers is a trip to Emmitsburg, Maryland for a pair of dates with Mount St. Mary’s, who currently sit right above Sacred Heart in the conference standings. The final nine games feature six games against teams that are currently above the Pioneers in the standings as of Friday.

No better time to prove doubters wrong.

“We got picked last and we took that personally. We’re just trying to prove everyone that we are one of the best teams in the conference and we should be ranked higher,” said Clarke.

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