Poor second half dooms Pioneers

The Sacred Heart cagers will come to dearly rue games like Thursday’s 78-67 home loss Northeast Conference rival Robert Morris.

The Pioneers led the visitors 46-39 with 16:47 left in the second half and played fairly good basketball until that point in the game. But that was it. The Colonials outscored Sacred Heart 39-21 the rest of the way and left Fairfield the winners in both teams NEC opener.

For the Pioneers, the loss hurt on several levels. First, it was a winnable game that the Fairfielders let slip through their fingers. Second, it was the Pioneers first conference game of the season and undoubtedly will have repercussions during the annual scramble for tournament seedings at the end of the regular season. Thirdly, it dropped the locals to 5-9, four games under .500.

Finally, the team wasted a tremendous effort from junior forward Joseph Lopez, who was absolutely immense. The 6-7 powerhouse from Miami, Florida finished with 23 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. For the game, the junior shot 10 for 13 from the floor.

Lopez gave a hint of things to come from the opening whistle. After the Colonials Billy Giles opened the scoring with a bucket, Lopez quickly reeled off seven straight points. Will less than three minutes gone in the game the score at Coach Bike Court at the Pitt Center was Joseph Lopez 7, Robert Morris 2. The Colonials early 2-0 edge was the only lead the visitors held in the first half.

But Lopez’ heroics were all for naught as the Pioneers frittered away his dominance with a horrid second half performance.

Although Sacred Heart both outrebounded and had more assists than Robert Morris, the locals were killed by turnovers. The Colonials won the turnover battle by a 2-to-1 margin, forcing 20 miscues by the Pioneers while committing only 10 themselves.

Bridgeport native Quincy McKnight had another stellar game for Sacred Heart. The sophomore guard scored 18 points and had a team high six assists. Matej Buovac chipped in a dozen points off the bench for the locals.

Robert Morris had a more balanced attack as four Colonials reached double figures. Isaiah Still topped the visitors with 22 points. Rigning NEC Player of the Week Kavon Steward tossed in 14 points while Aaron Tate and Dachon Burke had 10 points apiece. Giles finished with nine markers for the Colonials, who improved to 5-9 for the year.

Next up for Sacred Heart I another home game as Saint Francis of Pennsylvania pays a visit on Saturday. Tip is at 3:30 p.m. at the Pitt Center.