Nov. 25, 2008

FAIRFIELD, CT - The Sacred Heart men's basketball returns to the court after a nine-day layoff to play the home opener against Yale University on Sunday at 4 p.m. The game is the start of a five-game homestand. The Pioneers lost their last time out, 111-87 to Providence on November 20.

Series: This is the eighth career meeting between these two schools and Yale holds a 6-1 edge. The Pioneers defeated the Bulldogs for the first time in 2006-07, 90-80. Yale won last season's meeting, 82-71.

SHU vs. the Ivy League: Sacred Heart has a 7-16 record against Ivy League foes. The Pioneers have faced Columbia (2-4), Cornell (1-1), Harvard (3-5) and Yale (1-6). SHU has never faced Brown, Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton.

Scouting the Opponent: The Bulldogs just returned from a West Coast swing that saw them pull a 53-52 upset at Oregon State on Monday night. Three nights earlier, Yale dropped a 77-58 decision at Portland.

Senior guard Alex Zampier leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 11.8 points per game. Senior forward Ross Morin, who had 12 to lead Yale in the win over Oregon State, is next at 11 per game. He also leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 per contest.

Closing in on 1,000 and 500: Senior Joey Henley is close to becoming the 28th player in SHU history, and the fifth in Division I, to reach 1,000 career points. He now has 965 points and 458 career rebounds. Only Maurice Bailey (1,422), Kibwe Trim (1,289), Jarrid Frye (1,287) and Drew Shubik (1,029) have scored more points in Division I at SHU besides Henley.

Only Frye (535) and Trim (519) have reached the 500 career rebound plateau for the Pioneers.

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