FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Sacred Heart senior point guard Phil Gaetano hit a pair of critical three-pointers down the stretch in his final game at the Pitt Center to lead the Pioneers to an 84-73 win over the LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon. With the loss the Blackbirds, who were led by freshman Martin Hermannsson's 16 points, will be the No. 8 seed in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament and will take on top-seeded St. Francis Brooklyn on Wednesday, Mar. 4 in the quarterfinal round.

After a sluggish start by LIU that saw the home team jump out to a 10-5 lead, three straight three-pointers in a span of 1:10 from freshmen Trevin Woods and Trevon Woods nudged the Blackbirds on top 14-10 at the 13:33 mark. Sacred Heart came back to take a brief 20-18 lead after a three-pointer by Steve Glowiak, but trifectas from Hermannsson and freshman Elvar Fridriksson bookended an 8-2 spurt that gave LIU Brooklyn a 26-22 advantage with 6:44 on the clock.

Trevin Woods converted on a layup to put the score at 28-24 before the Pioneers responded with five straight to take a one-point lead. The margin remained less than two for either team, with a three-point field goal by Cane Broome capping the scoring in the first half to give Sacred Heart a slim 41-39 lead heading into intermission.

The Blackbirds came out of the locker room for the second half with aggression, and used a pair of three-pointers from Hermannsson and Fridriksson to jump in front, 47-41, with 18:26 to go. But SHU came right back with six straight including four from Evan Kelley to knot the score at 47-47 at the 17:00 mark.

The nip-and-tuck battle continued until the 6:11 mark, when a dunk by De'Von Barnett broke a 57-57 tie and sparked a game-changing 9-2 run over the next two minutes. The run was capped by a three-ball from Gaetano who, following a clutch three from Fridriksson that cut the deficit to 66-62, connected on another from deep to give the Pioneers a seven-point cushion. From there, Sacred Heart connected on 11 of its 12 free throws to seal the win.

In addition to Hermannsson's 16 points, Fridriksson closed with 14 points and six assists, senior Gerrell Martin chipped in with 12 points and Trevin Woods added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Broome finished with a game-high 21 points for the Pioneers while Gaetano added 15 points and 10 assists.