Sacred Heart survives Mount St. Mary’s upset bid 61-59

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) — Jare’l Spellman’s lone basket of the game came on a lay-in off a miss with 1.6 second left and third-seeded Sacred Heart beat No. 6-seed Mount Saint Mary’s 61-59 on Wednesday night in a Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinal.

Spellman secured the offensive rebound off Aaron Clarke’s missed layup for the game winner. The Mountaineers called timeout, and off a three-quarter court inbound pass, Vado Morse got off a shot at the buzzer that wasn’t close. Damian Chong Qui made a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to put the Mountaineers into a tie at 59.

E.J. Anosike led Sacred Heart (20-12) with 16 points and 15 rebounds with 10 of them on the offensive end. It was the third time in his career he’s grabbed 10 offensive boards. Clarke scored 13 and Kinnon LaRose 10. Spellman gabbed 11 rebounds.

Despite a 47-23 rebounding advantage, the Pioneers shot just 37.1% from the field, were 6 of 19 from 3-point range and missed half their 18 free-throw attempts.

Chong Qui scored 18 for Mount Saint Mary’s (11-21) and Nana Opoku 11.

Sacred Heart advances to play No. 2 seed St. Francis (PA) on Saturday.