Sacred Heart Travels to Santa Clara to Take on Broncos
By Josh Horton
Nov 26, 2013; Chestnut Hill, MA, USA; Sacred Heart Pioneers guard Steve Glowiak (31) shoots the ball against Boston College Eagles guard Alex Dragicevich (right) during the first half at Silvio O. Conte Forum. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Santa Clara vs. Sacred Heart
Game Time: 8:00 p.m. PST
TV: None
LiveStream: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/santaclara.portal?mode=link#
LiveStats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?gid=scu&theme=santaclara
Team Record’s: SCU – 5-5 – SHU – 2-8
Leading Scorers: SCU – Brownridge 15.7 – SHU – Kelley 14.8
Leading Rebounders: SCU – Brown 6.6 – SHU – Montes 4.9
Leading Distributors: SCU – Roquemore 4.0 – SHU – Gaetano
Projected Starters
Santa Clara
Evan Roquemore
Brandon Clark
Jared Brownridge
Nate Kratch
Jerry Brown
Sacred Heart
Phil Gaetano
Chris Evans
Evan Kelley
Louis Montes
Cole Walton
After a big win on Monday night, Santa Clara will try and build off its recent success and defeat the Sacred Heart Pioneers at the Leavey Center in the second leg of the Santa Clara portion of the Las Vegas Classic.
After dropping 4 straight games to bring their record to 2-4, the Broncos have won 3 out of their last 4 games and now all the teams in the WCC have a record .500 or above. The Broncos can solidify themselves in that category with a win tonight, which would bring their record to 6-5 overall.
The Opponent
AP Poll: NR
Coaches Poll: NR
RPI: 312
KenPom: 259
Many expected the Pioneers to struggle without all-time great scorer Shane Gibson and head coach Dave Bike, who coached 35 seasons at Sacred Heart. That is exactly what they have done this season.
Sacred Heart was on the road a great deal in the start of the season. Out of the Pioneers first 8 games, 7 of them were on the road. However, the Pioneers only traveled a total of 616.7 miles during their slate of road games, which comes out to be 88.1 miles per road game. The farthest Sacred Heart has had to travel this season is 152 miles, when the Pioneers faced off against Lehigh in Bethlehem, Penn.
The Fairfield, Conn. natives will travel roughly 3,000 miles to take on Santa Clara, which is easily the Pioneers longest trip of the season thus far.
From a playing standpoint, Sacred Heart features a balanced scoring attack. Evan Kelley and Chris Evans average 14.8 and 14.2 points respectively. Louis Montes and Steve Glowiak also average double-digits in scoring.
Phil Gaetano is the one who powers the Highlanders offense. Last season, Gaetano averaged 7.9 assists, which was second in the NCAA. His numbers have slightly dropped this season, with his assist average dropping to 5.4. Nonetheless, Gaetono still has a stranglehold on the ball-handling duties and is the main distributor on Sacred Heart.
Key to the Game
Keep the Momentum Going
At this moment of the season, this is the most swagger and confidence that the Broncos have played with. Santa Clara has some talent; that is undeniable, but did not look like they were playing with a great deal of poise at the start of the season.
Now that Evan Roquemore is fully back, the Broncos should play much better. Expect that to show tonight.