FAIRFIELD, CT – The St. Francis College Brooklyn men's basketball team (12-17, 6-11 NEC) fell to Sacred Heart (18-12, 11-6 NEC), 73-63, on Thursday evening inside the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, CT.
Despite the result, the Terriers clinched a berth in the 2020 NEC Tournament after Wagner fell to LIU earlier in the night. St. Francis is heading back to the NEC Tournament for the third season in a row and it is the ninth time that the Terriers will play in the Conference Tournament under Head Coach
Glenn Braica.
Sacred Heart led for the majority of the first half and extended its lead to as many as nine points in the opening frame. St. Francis was able to cut the deficit to six points at the halftime buzzer, when senior forward
Deniz Celen drilled a three-pointer as time expired.
Celen led the Terriers with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field in the first half of play. Graduate guard
Unique McLean added a near double-double in the first stanza with eight points and eight rebounds over 17 minutes.
St. Francis chipped away at Sacred Heart's lead in the second half and was able to pull ahead for a brief moment in the game. The Terriers went on a quick 5-0 scoring run to pull ahead, 53-51, with 9:50 to play in the game. Junior forward
Yaradyah Evans converted a three-point play to tie the game up at 51-51. Fellow junior guard
Chauncey Hawkins followed up with a circus shot that he floated in to give the Terriers a brief 53-51 advantage.
From there, the Pioneers bounced right back and went on a 6-0 run to put them up, 57-53, with 8:03 to play. Sacred Heart continued to add to the advantage down the stretch and fought off the Terriers' valiant comeback attempt. Ultimately, the Pioneers came out on top by the final score of 73-63.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Francis Brooklyn – 63 | Sacred Heart – 73
- Hawkins led the Terriers with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting and dished out four assists in nearly 40 minutes of play. It was the 14th time this season that the guard scored 15 or more points in a game and the 22nd time that he has finished with double-digit points. Hawkins is closing in on 1,000 career points and now currently sits with a total of 944.
- Celen finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds, and a career-high six blocked shots for the Terriers. He is just the second player in the last four seasons to block six or more shots in a game joining teammate and fellow senior Christian Rohlehr. Celen shot 6-of-17 from the field and 3-of-8 from three-point range. His three made threes tied a career-high.
- Freshman guard Rob Higgins added nine points on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor.
- McLean totaled eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds. It was the 11th time this season that the guard recorded 10-plus rebounds in a game, which are the most double-digit rebounding games in a season since Jalen Cannon recorded 22 in 2014-15.
- Evans tallied seven points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
UP NEXT:
The Terriers conclude the 2019-20 regular season on Saturday, February 29, when they face Central Connecticut State at 1 p.m., in New Britain, CT. St. Francis leads the all-time series with Central Connecticut (29-25). The Terriers are 2-3 against the Blue Devils over their last five meetings and defeated CCSU, 90-79, the last time they squared off on February 16, 2019. The Terriers are 10-7 against Central Connecticut under Coach Braica.
