Feb. 6, 2008

FAIRFIELD, CT - Setting The Scene: The Sacred Heart men's basketball team returns home, looking to extended its winning streak to eight games when the Hawks of Monmouth University come to town on Thursday at 7 p.m. A win would be the 700th in the program's history and would also clinch a Northeast Conference playoff berth for the Pioneers.

Series: Monmouth leads the all-time series between these two schools, 8-7, but the Pioneers have won the last three games and four of the last five. The Pioneers easily won an earlier meeting this season, 80-53, holding Monmouth to just 11 points in the first hald. SHU won a meeting in Fairfield last season, 74-57, then followed it up with an 82-75 win in New Jersey.

Upcoming Games: The Pioneers will have a week off and then play at Wagner College on February 14. The will return home to host St. Francis- PA on Saturday the 16th.

Scouting the Opponent: Monmouth is 5-17 and 2-8 in the Northeast Conference. The Hawks have lost three straight and are coming off a 70-66 loss in overtime against LIU on Saturday.

Sophomore Jhmar Youngblood leads the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game. He also leads the team in steals with 42. Junior guard Whitney Coleman is second in scoring at 12.1 per game and is the leading rebounder at 3.7 per contest.

Monmouth is shooting just 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range. The Hawks are being outrebounded by an average of ten per game.

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