By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — High-octane and energetic offenses that rely on three-point shooting can be dangerous in March in a multitude of ways.
On a positive note, you can build up a big lead in a short span and essentially bury games with your scoring ability. On the negative side, if the shots aren’t falling, you don’t really have anything to fall back on to counter it and can fall behind just as fast.
Sacred Heart may be the textbook definition of one of these teams. The Pioneers have the ability to shoot the lights out, but also have nights where they can’t get into a flow and crumble. With Thursday night symbolizing the start of the MAAC tournament, it became now or never for Anthony Latina’s group to get hot.
On this night, it certainly did.
Led by a ferocious offensive attack during that stemmed midway through the first half up through the final buzzer, ninth-seeded Sacred Heart knocked off No. 8 seed Iona, 91-80, in the opening round of the MAAC tournament to move on to the quarterfinals.
“That’s how you win games this time of year,” Latina said. “Your players have to be the guys you’ve been counting on and step up. We’ve caught a lot of bad breaks with some injuries, so we’re hoping we can make up for that this week.”
Nyle Ralph-Beyer had an eventful opening few minutes, starting with a scary fall on a shot contest that gave all of Boardwalk Hall a scare before responding with five quick points thanks to a three and a two-handed flush. He finished with 26 points on a blistering 8-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 from three.
“For me, once I see one go in, it’s pretty much over,” Ralph-Beyer asserted. “Once I start to catch a groove, you can see the numbers. I was feeling it tonight.”
For the first 12 minutes or so, Ralph-Beyer was the only Pioneer who could find the bottom of the net. He started 2-for-2 from three, but the rest of the team opened 0-for-13. This allowed Iona to build a 21-14 advantage midway through the first half.
“We all believe in each other,” Yann Farell said. “The guys always tell me to keep shooting, keep going, don’t stop. That helps the team, it helps all of us.”
From that point, the Sacred Heart offense exploded. The Pioneers hit six of their last 10 threes to close the first half, outscoring the Gaels by a 20-8 margin over the final eight minutes to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room. Farell knocked down a pair of treys during the run for his first points, while both Anquan Hill and Dashon Gittens got on the board as well.
The Pioneers started the second half with an exclamation point, too, as Gittens set up Ralph-Beyer for his second driving dunk of the game to go up by seven. The Gaels would score six straight to cut it to one, but consecutive slams from Hill and Gittens pushed the lead back to five. Iona would tie it shortly after thanks to a Luke Jungers three and a fastbreak layup from CJ Anthony off a sloppy turnover from Mekhi Conner.
“That was our third turnover in four possessions,” Latina said. “I told the guys, if you want to win this game, we can’t do this.”
Both sides traded scores out of the timeout before Farell splashed his third three. Jungers would answer with a tough triple right after. Sacred Heart would follow up with an 8-0 run, all on free throws. Iona fouled three-point shooters on consecutive trips down the floor, and both Ralph-Beyer and Farell made them pay by sinking all six at the line.
Farell would hit his fourth three, then the floodgates opened. The teams would combine to make their next 11 shots, seven for Sacred Heart, four for Iona. When the Gaels finally missed, the Pioneers just kept rolling. During a stretch of eight-plus minutes, literally everything Sacred Heart put up went in. The Pioneers made 10 straight field goals and 11 straight free throws before Hill missed the back end of a 1-and-1 to finally snap the surge.
“We’re all great players who can make shots, one through five,” Ralph-Beyer said. “Having everyone make shots like that, it builds momentum and gives us energy all throughout the team.”
The field goal streak would live on for a couple more minutes, reaching 11 straight before Gittens missed a three. The Pioneers still had a positive trip, as an offensive board turned into Ralph-Beyer’s sixth three of the night. His three put Sacred Heart up 78-67, and it pretty much stayed around that margin the rest of the way.
In the end, Sacred Heart walked away scoring 90 or more points for the first time since late January against Quinnipiac. Over the final 28 minutes, the Pioneers scored 77 points and just dominated the pace of the game.
“We believe that we can score the best in the league with anybody,” Hill said. “When guys like Nyle and Yann are making shots, it just makes it easier for us.”
Both Farell and Hill finished with 19 points in the win, while Gittens had 10 and Conner had nine with 12 assists.
Up next, Sacred Heart has a short turnaround as it takes on top seed Merrimack in the quarterfinals. The Pioneers averaged less than 20 three-point attempts per game in their two matchups against the Warriors and their prolific 2-3 zone defense, something to monitor on Friday night.
“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Latina said. “It’s going to be a great challenge against a good friend (Joe Gallo) of mine, who I respect, and is probably as good as any coach in the country.”
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