Sacred Heart makes powerful first impression in MAAC debut, dominating Iona

By Ray Curren (@currenrr)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — This MAAC thing is easy.

Just ask Sacred Heart, who—in its first contest as a member of the conference—dismantled perennial league power Iona, 83-59, Friday night at the newly remodeled Pitt Center.

For Anthony Latina, who is in his 12th season as head coach of the Pioneers, but was an assistant for eight years before that, it was a night to celebrate how far the program has come. As Dave Bike—who was in attendance Friday along with several other alumni—did after every contest win or lose, Latina walked over to the pep band to thank them for their support. Sacred Heart has been playing basketball for more than six decades, and Latina is only its third head coach.

“I’m so grateful to be at a place that has trusted me and stuck with me through good and bad,” Latina said. “I’m just blessed. I couldn’t be more grateful. I’m biased, but I think this is one of the best jobs in the country, we’ve had three coaches in the history of this program. To have this place now, I think it’s one of the best mid-major atmospheres in the country once we get it rolling.”

While the final result might not have been too surprising, the manner in which Sacred Heart (4-5) dominated certainly was. Iona scored the first five points of the night, but the Pioneers took its pressure apart for the rest of the first half, culminated by a Nyle Ralph-Beyer 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave his team a 47-26 advantage at the break.

There were many standouts for Sacred Heart, but the biggest might have been junior Anquan Hill, who finished with a game-high 18 points. Hill was the NEC Rookie of the Year at FDU in 2021-22, played for St. Bonaventure in 2022-23, then missed the entire season in 2023-24. Hill has also been banged up this season, but clearly—when healthy (after the game he said he was “90 percent there”)—could be one of the best players in the MAAC and is certainly motivated to show it.

The Pioneers also came in with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Traditionally, projecting the MAAC standings is the ultimate effort in futility (except for possibly Iona for a few years there), but Sacred Heart is well aware it was picked dead last in the preseason conference poll. This was the Pioneers’ third straight win, and per KenPom, Sacred Heart is now rated fourth in the MAAC (behind Merrimack, Quinnipiac, and Marist) after Friday’s games.

“We have pictures of the preseason poll in the weight room and in our locker room,” Hill said. “We aren’t going to forget that. We feel like we have something to prove.”

Bryce Johnson added 14 points, while Amiri Stewart had 13 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists for Sacred Heart, which shot 10-of-24 from behind the arc. But perhaps more importantly, it held Iona to 0.81 points per possession by forcing 19 turnovers. Latina and his coaching staff are confident the offense will be there, but defense had been the Pioneers’ downfall in the NEC when push comes to shove.

“It’s a long year and guys are going to get hurt and everybody has to be ready,” Latina said. “We had Taj Bryant, who hadn’t played all year, he gave us 11 big minutes today and that’s what it’s going to take. He was outstanding. When everyone is ready like that, it makes you dangerous, and I think we can be dangerous.”

Meanwhile, it’s some soul searching for Iona, which is now 2-8 and suffered its worst MAAC loss in six years. Tobin Anderson wants to keep the same mystique the program had under Tim Cluess and Rick Pitino, but after going 10-10 last year in league play, the Gaels were not competitive Friday night. 

“We played great in the Bahamas, we got better down there and then to come out in the first conference game like that with that energy and effort is, I don’t understand it,” Anderson said. “I’m irritated, I’m pissed. One thing we need to do is fight and compete and play hard for each other, and we didn’t do that tonight, and that part is embarrassing. I don’t mind getting beat, but to play that way is hard to fathom. That can’t happen again.”

The aforementioned 0.81 points per possession offensively has not been an aberration, unfortunately for Iona fans. The Gaels, who did get 17 points from Dejour Reaves, are 320th in offensive efficiency and 343rd in effective field goal percentage. Friday, Iona was 19-of-46 from two-point range and 3-for-14 from behind the arc, somewhat shocking numbers for people used to watching the Iona teams of the past decade dominate offensively.

Anderson insists that although things are different now, he can still be successful even if he does not have the best shooting team, as long as his defensive pressure is causing problems and they can be patient enough to get good shots without turning the ball over.

“We’re not ever going to be a great offensive team,” Anderson said. “This team isn’t built that way. You look at our numbers, that’s just not our thing. We have to play a little bit slower and be a little bit more unselfish and not turn the ball over. But we have to defend, we have to rebound, we have to get loose balls. There’s stuff that we have to be able to do that we did against Rice and Tarleton State and Princeton. You can still win games that way, but when we shoot quick and turn it over, it’s not going to work.”

His track record thus far certainly proves it, and with 19 games still to go in the MAAC season, it’s not time to press the panic button in New Rochelle. But with an angry Saint Peter’s team (losers at home to Manhattan Friday) coming to the Hynes Center Sunday, a win would go a long way toward building some confidence, which is lacking a bit at the moment.