Men’s Basketball Enters Final Month of Season

BY Asia McCray

Staff Reporter

The Sacred Heart University men’s basketball team has entered the final month of the regular season. They are currently 6-4 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play and are sitting in a four-way tie for second place.

With seven freshmen, two sophomores, three juniors and one senior, head coach Anthony Latina believes the team is starting to come together after a few early losses in the season.

“It takes some time, but we are pleased with where we are,” said Latina. “We feel like we are improving, and our best basketball is a head of us.”

On Jan. 21, the Pioneers faced Wagner College and won 62-38. That tied a school record that was set back on Dec. 29, 1987, for the least amount of points allowed in a game.

“The culture we have set here is to out-work each other and push each other in order make each other better,” said Anosike.

Senior guard Sean Hoehn looks at some of the losses this season as motivation to inspire himself and his teammates.

“We have not won many games in the past and I think for the older guys who have been here, we don’t want to lose as many games as we have before,” said Hoehn. “We want to completely rewrite the script; that’s what’s making this team come together.”

The team also follows a certain quote that they value for inspiration prior to every game.

“You have to hate to lose more than you want to win,” said Hoehn. “I think that’s true and I think we have been doing a good job bouncing back.”

Latina said that the team’s future depends on whether they can improve on their half-court offense. He’s also looking for the team to be more aggressive on defense by taking away the opposition’s three-point attempts.

“We’ve made some adjustments defensively by adding JT and he gave us the luxury to do some things that we haven’t been able to do,” said Latina.

Spellman believes defense is the biggest asset for the team this season and he hopes that trend continues during the final month of play.

“We are probably one of the best defensive teams as far statistics go,” said junior Jare’l “JT” Spellman. “I think that’s the biggest difference from this year and any other year. If we keep upholding that, then I feel like the sky is the limit for us.”

The team has two home games this week. On Feb. 7, they host Fairleigh Dickinson at the Pitt Center for a 6 p.m. start. After that, they welcome Mount St. Mary’s on Feb. 9 at 3 p.m.

The Mount St. Mary’s game will be televised on ESPN+ and will be the annual “Pack the Pitt” game.

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