The Sacred Heart Pioneers and the Iona Gaels meet Friday in college basketball action from Hynes Athletic Center. Sacred Heart moved to 1-0 on the year with an opener win over Sarah Lawrence on Monday. As for Iona, they took a tough loss to Charleston in their first outing of the season. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Sacred Heart Pioneers
The Pioneers finished below .500 last season at 16-17 overall, but the team did go 8-8 in the Northeast Conference for a fifth-place finish and improved their record from the previous season. Sacred Heart beat Wagner in the NEC Tournament at season’s end but fell to Merrimack in the semifinals.
Sacred Heart got off to a good start with a dominant win over Sarah Lawrence on Monday. The Pioneers jumped out to a 45-28 lead at halftime and scored 50 more points from there in a 95-51 blowout. Nico Galette was the team’s leading scorer on 24 points and seven rebounds, while Alex Sobel doubled up with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Iona Gaels
Over on the Iona side, they had a pretty successful run last year. The Gaels finished 27-8 overall with a 17-3 run in the Metro Atlantic Athletic, eventually winning the regular season and tournament championships for their troubles. Iona was bounced in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament by UConn 87-63, though.
Iona didn’t start out very well in their first game of the season versus College of Charleston. The Gaels were down 46-39 going into the second half, and though they improved from there Iona still lost 71-69. Greg Gordon doubled up on 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way, while Idan Tretout added 17 points.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Iona. The Gaels didn’t play especially well in their opener loss to Charleston, but still could have won the game with a few breaks down the stretch. Iona shot 41.4 percent from the field with 42 rebounds, but they were a little too permissive on defense. The Gaels allowed 42.4 percent shooting from the field and 43 rebounds from Charleston and couldn’t keep up.
As for Sacred Heart, I like them to play well here and keep pace most of the way. Sarah Lawrence was more of an exhibition game, though; there really wasn’t much chance the Pioneers would lose. This matchup will mark a big jump in competition, and I don’t think Sacred Heart will quite pull off the cover.