2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's basketball team represented Sacred Heart University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by 11th-year head coach Anthony Latina, played their home games at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Connecticut as members of the Northeast Conference.

2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's basketball
ConferenceNortheast Conference
Record16–16 (10–6 NEC)
Head coach
Associate head coachKyle Steinway
Assistant coaches
  • Tom Barrett
  • Anthony Richards
Home arenaWilliam H. Pitt Center
Seasons
2023–24 Northeast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Central Connecticut 13 3   .813 20 11   .645
Merrimack 13 3   .813 21 12   .636
Sacred Heart 10 6   .625 16 16   .500
Le Moyne* 9 7   .563 15 17   .469
Fairleigh Dickinson 9 7   .563 15 17   .469
Wagner 7 9   .438 17 16   .515
LIU 6 10   .375 7 22   .241
Saint Francis 3 13   .188 8 22   .267
Stonehill* 2 14   .125 4 27   .129
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
2024 NEC tournament winner

On October 23, 2023, it was announced that this season would be the last for Sacred Heart as members of the Northeast Conference, as they will be joining the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference next season.[1]

Preseason polls

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Northeast Conference poll

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The Northeast Conference released its preseason coaches' poll on October 24, 2023. The Pioneers were picked to finish first in the conference.[2]

Rank Team
1. Sacred Heart (7)
2. Central Connecticut (1)
3. Fairleigh Dickinson (1)
4. Merrimack
5. Wagner
6. Stonehill
7. LIU
8. Saint Francis
9. Le Moyne

() first-place votes

Preseason All-Conference Team

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Guards Nico Galette and Joey Reilly were selected as members of the NEC Preseason All-Conference Team.[3]

Previous season

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The Pioneers finished the 2022–23 season 16–17, 8–8 in NEC play, to finish tied for fifth place.[4] They defeated Wagner in the quarterfinals of the NEC tournament,[5] before falling to top-seeded Merrimack in the semifinals.[6]

Roster

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2023–24 Sacred Heart Pioneers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Joey Reilly 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) GS Holy Cross Cromwell, CT
F 2 Anquan Hill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr St. Bonaventure Philadelphia, PA
G 3 Mike Sixsmith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Holy Trinity High School Hicksville, NY
F 4 Chris Nana 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Fr AITE Darien, CT
G 5 Raheem Solomon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Niagara Hartford, CT
G 10 Kyle McGee 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr West Chester Jersey City, NJ
G 11 Daniel Bublil 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr IMG Academy Ra'anana, Israel
G 13 Najee Coursey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS So Cedar Creek High School Galloway, NJ
F 14 Tommaso Ferraresi 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr IMG Academy Venice, Italy
F 15 Raymond Espinal-Guzman 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So Woodstock Academy Cranston, RI
G 22 Brendan McGuire 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) GS Quinnipiac Garden City, NY
F 23 Lucius Gibson-Savadel 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Millbrook High School Bay Shore, NY
F 25 Tanner Thomas 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Williston Northampton School Springfield, MA
F 31 Alex Sobel 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Middlebury Setauket, NY
G 35 Aidan Carpenter 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Siena Hamden, CT
G 45 Nico Galette 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Rutgers Prep Rahway, NJ
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 26, 2023

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023*
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Sarah Lawrence W 95–51  1–0
William H. Pitt Center (721)
Fairfield, CT
November 10, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Iona L 81–88  1–1
Hynes Athletics Center (2,401)
New Rochelle, NY
November 14, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Holy Cross W 84–77  2–1
Hart Center (1,176)
Worcester, MA
November 17, 2023*
11:00 am, ESPN+
at UMBC
UMBC MTE
L 80–85  2–2
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (1,618)
Catonsville, MD
November 18, 2023*
11:00 am
vs. Loyola (MD)
UMBC MTE
W 66–51  3–2
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (115)
Catonsville, MD
November 21, 2023*
11:30 am, NEC Front Row
Binghamton W 89–75  4–2
William H. Pitt Center (1,209)
Fairfield, CT
November 26, 2023*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Saint Joseph's L 55–64  4–3
Hagan Arena (1,501)
Philadelphia, PA
November 30, 2023*
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
New Hampshire L 84–90  4–4
William H. Pitt Center (664)
Fairfield, CT
December 2, 2023*
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Boston University L 49–70  4–5
William H. Pitt Center (617)
Fairfield, CT
December 6, 2023*
7:00 pm, CBSSN
at St. John's L 50–85  4–6
Carnesecca Arena (5,602)
Queens, NY
December 9, 2023*
6:00 pm, SNY
Fairfield L 57–67  4–7
William H. Pitt Center (1,387)
Fairfield, CT
December 16, 2023*
1:30 pm, FS1
at Providence L 64–78  4–8
Amica Mutual Pavilion (8,813)
Providence, RI
December 19, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Albany L 79–93  4–9
Broadview Center (1,415)
Albany, NY
December 21, 2023*
11:30 am, NEC Front Row
Dartmouth W 67–57  5–9
William H. Pitt Center (2,400)
Fairfield, CT
December 30, 2023*
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Mercy W 92–63  6–9
William H. Pitt Center (312)
Fairfield, CT
NEC regular season
January 4, 2024
11:30 am, NEC Front Row
Saint Francis W 79–67  7–9
(1–0)
William H. Pitt Center (2,000)
Fairfield, CT
January 6, 2024
3:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Merrimack L 58–82  7–10
(1–1)
Hammel Court (547)
North Andover, MA
January 13, 2024
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
LIU W 89–55  8–10
(2–1)
William H. Pitt Center (485)
Fairfield, CT
January 15, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Le Moyne W 80–73  9–10
(3–1)
Ted Grant Court (483)
DeWitt, NY
January 21, 2024
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Wagner W 66–61  10–10
(4–1)
William H. Pitt Center (641)
Fairfield, CT
January 25, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Saint Francis L 71–75  10–11
(4–2)
DeGol Arena (725)
Loretto, PA
January 27, 2024
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Fairleigh Dickinson L 91–93  10–12
(4–3)
Bogota Savings Bank Center (673)
Hackensack, NJ
February 1, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Stonehill W 77–72  11–12
(5–3)
William H. Pitt Center (480)
Fairfield, CT
February 3, 2024
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Le Moyne W 87–81  12–12
(6–3)
William H. Pitt Center (597)
Fairfield, CT
February 8, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Central Connecticut L 70–77  12–13
(6–4)
William H. Detrick Gymnasium (2,023)
New Britain, CT
February 10, 2024
8:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at LIU L 58–75  12–14
(6–5)
Steinberg Wellness Center (366)
Brooklyn, NY
February 17, 2024
4:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Wagner W 63–53  13–14
(7–5)
Spiro Sports Center (1,173)
Staten Island, NY
February 22, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Fairleigh Dickinson W 99–91  14–14
(8–5)
William H. Pitt Center (722)
Fairfield, CT
February 24, 2024
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Central Connecticut L 67–68  14–15
(8–6)
William H. Pitt Center (1,046)
Fairfield, CT
February 29, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
at Stonehill W 79–51  15–15
(9–6)
Merkert Gymnasium 
Easton, MA
March 2, 2024
2:00 pm, NEC Front Row
Merrimack W 89–85  16–15
(10–6)
William H. Pitt Center (458)
Fairfield, CT
NEC tournament
March 6, 2024
7:00 pm, NEC Front Row
(3) (6) Wagner
Quarterfinals
L 57–60  16–16
William H. Pitt Center (361)
Fairfield, CT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ "MAAC Welcomes Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University as Newest Full Members". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. October 23, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  2. ^ "In Pursuit of First-Ever #NECMBB Crown, Sacred Heart Enters 2023–24 Season As Clear Favorite". Northeast Conference. October 24, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "2023–24 Preseason All-NEC Men's Basketball Team Revealed". Northeast Conference. October 24, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  4. ^ "NEC Men's College Basketball Standings - 2022-23". ESPN. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  5. ^ Smith, Josh (March 1, 2023). "Pios Advance to NEC Semis with 67-55 Win Over Wagner". Sacred Heart University. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  6. ^ "Men's Basketball Earns Tenth Straight Victory and Spot in NEC Championship Game with Win Over Sacred Heart". Merrimack College Athletics. March 4, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  7. ^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Sacred Heart University. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  8. ^ "Sacred Heart Pioneers 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 26, 2023.