.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Brown University
7-6
Sacred Heart
6-6
Brown Takes Down Sacred Heart, 79-76, Behind Leland King's 19 Points
12/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Providence, R.I. – Sophomore forward Leland King's 19 points led four Brown players in double figures in the Bears' 79-76 win over Sacred Heart Sunday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Brown won for the sixth time in their last seven games, extending its record to 7-6 overall, while Sacred Heart falls to 6-6.
"I'm really pleased with the victory," said Brown head coach Mike Martin. "It's the first close game we've won all year. Sacred Heart is a hard to play against because of their speed and guard play. It wasn't easy, but I'm extremely happy."
King's 19 points came on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. He just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Bears' senior forward Rafael Maia tossed in 13 points, connecting on 6-of-8 field goals, while pulling down nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Steven Spieth and sophomore point guard Tavon Blackmon scored 13 points for Brown, with Blackmon also handing out a career high eight assists.
Sacred Heart was led by freshman Cane Broome, who tossed in a game high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. Evan Kelly chipped in with 17 points for the Pioneers.
Trailing, 67-65, with 2:50 remaining in the game, Maia connected on a three-point play to give the Bears a 68-67 lead. One minute later, two free throws by Spieth gave the Bears a 70-67 advantage.
Following lay-up by the Pioneers' Tevin Falzon to cut the Bears' lead to one point, Brown went back up by three points again, 72-69, on two free throws by sophomore JR Hobbie.
Broome connected on a trey for Sacred Heart to tie the game at 72-72, with 51 seconds left on the clock.
Blackmon connected on a driving lay-up with 32 seconds remaining to give Brown the lead for good, 74-72. The Bears' lead went back up to four points, 76-72, on a dunk by King on a length of the court pass with 16 remaining.
"The home run pass is really difficult to execute," said Martin. "I told Rafael Maia that he had to be 1,000-percent sure and he threw a perfect pass."
Falzon hit two free throws with 6.9 seconds remaining to pull the Pioneers to within 76-74, but Blackmon hit one of two free throws for the Bears with 5.6 seconds for a three point lead, 77-74.
The Pioneers again got to within one point, 77-76, on two free throws by Phil Gaetano with 2.7 seconds left on the clock.
Blackmon iced the game for the Bears with two free throws for the final margin of victory for the Bears.
The Bears jumped out to an early 10 point lead, 22-12, on a trey by Hobbie at the midway point of the opening half. A lay-up by King at the 5:29 mark gave the Bears their largest lead of the opening half, 32-21.
A 9-0 run by the Pioneers cut Brown's lead to just two points, 32-30, on a lay-up by Evan Kelly with 3:31 left in the opening half.
After Sacred Heart drew to within one point, 38-37, Blackmon connected on two free throws to lift the Bears to a 40-37 halftime advantage.
Sacred Heart opened the second half with a surge and built a five point lead, 60-55, following a lay-up by Steve Glowik with 10:32 left in the game.
The Bears are back in action again on New Year's Eve, December 31, closing out calendar year 2014 against cross-state rival Rhode Island at the Ryan Center. Tip-off is 4pm.
