FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University men's basketball team defeated in-state foe Mitchell College, 104-68, on Sunday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center.

Five Pioneers scored in double figures as SHU (5-4 overall) shot 60.3 percent (41-68) and dished out 27 assists. Leading the way was Evan Kelley, who scored all 21 of his points in the first half. Jordan Allen added 19 to surpass his career high and had a perfect shooting night, going 7-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the line.

The game marked the first time the Mariners have faced a Division I opponent. Parris Hill scored a game-high 25 points in the loss as Mitchell dropped to 1-5 to start the season. Frank Martin and Donavan McClean each added 11 points while Wyatt Springer came off the bench to add nine.

SHU started the game outscoring the Mariners 14-4 just 4:16 in. The Mariners cut it to single digits twice over the next 42 seconds, but a three-point basket by Cane Broome made the score 19-9 with 14:41 remaining and marked the last time the lead was single digits. That basket was the beginning of an 18-6 spurt over the next 4:45 to stretch the lead out to 20 at 34-14.

Sacred Heart's largest first half lead came with 7:09 remaining, after De'von Barnett made a foul shot to increase the margin to 43-22. The Mariners answered with a 15-9 advantage over the next 4:04 to get within 15, the closest they would get, at 52-37 just 3:03 before the break. A foul shot by Kelley with 1:06 left gave the Pioneers a 57-39 advantage going into the locker room.

Joining Kelley and Allen in double figures was Broome, Tevin Falzon, and Filip Nowicki. Falzon and Nowicki both registered season-highs with 14 and 10, respectively. Falzon added a game-high eight rebounds.

Sacred Heart outscored the Mariners 66-26 in the paint, 25-6 off of turnovers, and 26-6 in the fastbreak. The Pioneer bench also held a 47-12 advantage. SHU's defense forced 19 turnovers and held Mitchell to 41-percent shooting, including 18.2 percent from three-point range. Sacred Heart outrebounded the Mariners 42-29.

The Pioneer lead reached a game-high 45 at 91-46 when Nowicki scored four straight to cap 13 unanswered points for SHU with 9:23 remaining in the game. The spurt was part of a 34-7 advantage to open the second half, including a 24-1 edge after Mitchell got within 22 at 67-45 with 16:29 remaining.

Mitchell will close out the semester with a road game at Fisher College on Tuesday, December 16 at 6 p.m.