March 2, 2007

FAIRFIELD, CT - The Sacred Heart men's basketball looks to advance to the Northeast Conference Championship Game for the first time in school history when it hosts Quinnipiac in a semi-final round matchup Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm.

Series: This is the 51st career meeting between these schools that goes back to the Division II era for both teams. Sacred Heart holds a 33-17 edge all-time. The first meeting between the teams was in 1965, a 100-83 Quinnipiac win. QU leads the series 8-6 since SHU became Division I in 1999.

Scouting the Opponent: The Bobcats are 14-14 after defeating Fairleigh Dickinson in the quarterfinals, 78-77, on a pair of free throws from Van Crafton with :05 left. Crafton, forced into playing more minutes with senior guard Adam Gonzalez out with an illness, poured in 23 points to lead all scorers

Gonzalez is scoring 14.1 points per game for the Bobcats. He also leads the team in assists at 3.6 per game. DeMario Anderson, a transfer from Central Connecticut, is averaging 15.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game off the bench. Anderson had 17 in a starting roll on Thursday.

New Heights: The 32-point win for the Pioneers over Wagner in the first round of the tournament was the largest margin of victory for Sacred Heart in Division I. It was the largest since a 96-54 win over Bryant on January 5, 1992.

Five is Fine: The current five-game winning streak is a Division I high for the Pioneers and the longest since SHU won six straight games during the 1988-89 season when the team finished 22-10.

Batting over .500: With the win over Quinnipiac, the Pioneers are assured their first season over .500 in Division I play. The last team to finish at or above that mark was the 1997-98 team that was 15-12. Louis Frye, older brother of current Pioneer Jarrid Frye, was that team's captain.

Super Season: The 69 threes by Luke Granato this season is the fourth highest single-season total in school history, and most since becoming Division I. Chauncey Hardy's .453 three-point percentage is the fifth best ever in a season. The 226 threes made as a team shatters the record of 175 set during the 1991-92 season.

There's No Place Like Home: The Pioneers are 10-2 at home in the Pitt Center this season. The Pioneers won the first five, before falling to FDU 91-88 on Jan. 30. It was the first home loss in nearly a year (2/16/06). It was the first time SHU opened 5-0 at home in the Division I era, and the first time since the 1985-86 season when the team opened 11-0 on the way to a 30-4 campaign and the Division II National Championship.

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