March 1, 2008

FAIRFIELD, CT - Setting The Scene: The Sacred Heart men's basketball team wraps up the regular season Sunday afternoon at home against the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut State University at 4:00 pm. The game is being televised nationally on ESPNU. SHU has wrapped up the #3 seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament and will face #6 CCSU again on Thursday in the first round.

Series: This rivalry goes back to the Division II days for both schools. CCSU leads the series 26-12 and has won 17 of 20 meetings since the Pioneers turned Division I, including three times victories last season. SHU won an earlier meeting this season, 68-52 in New Britain. The most notable game in the series was the 2007 NEC Championship game, a 74-70 CCSU triumph.

Upcoming Games: The Pioneers will host Central Connecticut again on Thursday, March 6 in the first round of the NEC Tournament.

Scouting the Opponent: Central Connecticut, the defending NEC champions, is 13-15 overall and 9-8 in the conference. The Blue Devils are coming off a 76-73 overtime loss to Quinnipiac on Thursday night.

Senior guard Tristan Blackwood leads the Blue Devils in scoring at 15.9 points per game. He also leads the club in assists at 5.3 per game and has canned 99 three-pointers. He is the NEC's all-time leader in treys. Freshman forward Ken Horton is second in scoring at 12.6 per game. Junior forward Marcus Palmer leads the team in rebounding at 5.8 per contest.

The Blue Devils are shooting 45 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range.

The Coaches: Dave Bike (Sacred Heart '69) is in his 30th year as the head coach of Sacred Heart. He has a career record of 462-412 and guided the Pioneers in their transition from a Division II program to Division I. His 450 victories ranks him 21st among active coaches. He led the Pioneers to eight NCAA Division II tournaments, and his 1985-86 team won the national championship while finishing 30-4. Bike was named the national Coach of the Year by the NABC following the title game. Prior to joining the SHU coaching staff, he worked as an assistant at Seattle University for four seasons. Drafted as a baseball player by Detroit, he spent five seasons as a catcher in the Tiger farm system.

Howie Dickenman (CCSU `70) is in his 12th season at Central Connecticut and has guided the Blue Devils to two NCAA Tourney berths led them to the conference championship game five times. He has a career record of 191-160 and has been named the NEC Coach of the Year three times. As a player he was the first player in CCSU history to amass 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds - a feat he accomplished in just three seasons. Prior to coming back to CCSU, he worked as an assistant for 14 seasons at the UConn.

Playoff Bound: The Pioneers clinched their third straight NEC tournament appearance with their win over Monmouth on February 7, becoming the first team to sew up a berth this year. The win over Quinnipiac on Fen 23 clinched a home game in the first round of the playoffs for the Pioneers.

Winning Ways: The Pioneers clinched their first back-to-back winning seasons with the win over Quinnipiac on February 23, pushing their record to 16-11. The last time SHU teams had consecutive winning campaigns was back in 1988-89 and 1989-90.

Where No Pioneers Have Gone Before: The Pioneers are 13-4 in the Northeast Conference for the first time in school history. The previous best NEC start for the SHU men was in 2006-07 when it was 9-7 after 16 games. The Pioneers finished that year with a 12-6 conference record.

Complete Release in PDF Format