In game one of its season-ending series against Fairleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart’s sloppy play and youth showed in an 82-69 loss to the Knights, falling to 8-7 in conference play.
Continuing a groove offensively that has carried over the past three games, Sacred Heart carried an early lead and looked to be on the attack and on a mission, but four lead changes and three ties saw Sacred Heart leading by just three with eight minutes to play in the opening half.
Before entering the under-eight media timeout, an adrenaline-filled Zach Radz and Elyjah Williams had some words for each other, resulting in a double technical for the pair. As always, scuffles like the one between the two seniors could often turn the tide.
Over the final eight minutes of the half post-technical, Fairleigh Dickinson, whose seniors appeared in an NCAA Tournament two years prior, used that energy to outscore the Pioneers 19-10 to take a six point lead into halftime.
From there, a 9-2 spurt out of the gates in the second half put Fairleigh Dickinson in the driver’s seat with a double digit lead and never looked back, another credit to their experience.
“I don’t think it was a big difference in my opinion,” said Anthony Latina. “I think it was more that the refs wanted to get control of the game. The story of the game was that we didn’t defend.”
The story of Sacred Heart’s success has been the immense chemistry between the mix of newcomers and upperclassmen leaders. That chemistry resulted in unselfish play and constant ball movement.
The occasional downfall with unselfish play is the almost too-unselfish play at times. Sacred Heart committed a season-high 16 turnovers in the contest, resulting in 18 points for Fairleigh Dickinson.
“I thought we were clicking well offensively, the problem was we couldn’t get stops and we could not build a lead,” said Latina.
Prior to the game, it was apparent that Sacred Heart was given a scheduling gift due to COVID.
While still in the playoff picture, a crunch in remaining days in the regular season meant that Sacred Heart’s series against second-place Bryant, which was postponed a few weeks ago, would most likely not get played. This left Sacred Heart with 16 conference games, two less than the normal 18.
Two fewer games meant that Sacred Heart’s path to the conference tournament was a bit easier. A split with Fairleigh Dickinson would likely have them playing postseason basketball.
After dropping the first game, it’s do-or-die for Sacred Heart if they want to control their own destiny.
“There is a sense of urgency in tomorrow’s game,” said Latina. “They are smart, they know. I didn’t have to say much about it.”
Sacred Heart was led once again by Tyler Thomas. The Pioneer sophomore and leading scorer in the Northeast Conference poured in 22 in the loss. The performance was his eighth game this season scoring 20 points or more.
For the time being, Sacred Heart’s regular season finale tips off tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. inside the Pitt Center.
“Win and we’re probably in,” said Latina. “Things can change, but the likelihood is if we win, which would be a great accomplishment. There’s a lot on the line. We’re going to give it the attention and urgency is deserves.”
