FAIRFIELD, Conn. – DeMario Anderson’s (Oxon Hill, Md.) contested mid-air catch-and-shoot attempt at the final horn fell short as the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team lost a tough one to Sacred Heart, 75-74, in front of a men’s basketball record 2,012 Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center. Anderson compiled game-and personal-season highs of 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Justin Rutty (Newburgh, N.Y.) added 12 points for Quinnipiac (10-9, 6-2 NEC) while Karl Anderson tied his namesake with 11 boards of his own.

Drew Shubik scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the second half for Sacred Heart (11-10, 8-2 NEC). Chauncey Hardy and Corey Hassan each scored 12 points, with 20 of the 24 combined points coming in the first half. Ryon Howard had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.

"If we won today, I think I would’ve felt like we’d stolen one," said Quinnipiac Head Coach Tom Moore. "There have been games we’ve lost this year and I wanted to cry for my team. This wasn’t one of those games. Sacred Heart outplayed us for 40 minutes."

Sacred Heart scored its last 10 points from the free throw line as the Bobcats didn’t allow a field goal in the final four minutes. For the game, Quinnipiac outshot Sacred Heart from the free throw line, 73.9 percent (17-23) to 68.8 percent (22-32), but Sacred Heart’s 32 attempts were the second-most a Quinnipiac opponent has taken this season, a mark eclipsed only by Hartford’s 34 in a double-overtime contest Nov. 11.

Trailing by double-digits early in the second half, Quinnipiac came all the way back to tie the game on a Rutty jumper with 7:11 left. Karl Anderson’s tip-in with 6:35 remaining gave Quinnipiac its first lead of the second half.

A DeMario Anderson three with 4:55 left gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the game, but Shubik had the immediate answer with a three from the top of the key at the other end. The Pioneers’ final field goal of the game, a Hardy layup, cut the QU advantage to one. The lead went back to SHU on two Brice Brooks free throws with 3:30 left.

After Karl Anderson tied the game with the front-end of two free throws, DeMario Anderson’s put-back of a missed second attempt put the Bobcats back on top. Quinnipiac held the advantage until Howard hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 70 with 2:05 remaining.

Shubik hit one-of-two free throws to put the Pioneers ahead, 71-70, but Bryan Geffen (Queens, N.Y.) converted a floater in the lane to put the lead back in Bobcat hands with 1:25 left. The whistled continued to blow as Shubik hit two more free throws, followed by two from DeMario Anderson to keep the Bobcats up by one at 74-73 with 53 seconds left.

Free throws ultimately decided the game as Shubik hit another pair to account for the final score, before DeMario Anderson’s buzzer-beater attempt wouldn’t fall.

The Pioneers immediately jumped on top in the first half with a three off the opening tip from Luke Granato. But the teams would trade counter punches in the first 10 minutes to the tune of six lead changes.

SHU took control following the sixth lead change, going up 15-13 at the 10:14 mark on a jumper by Mehmet Sahan. They’d hold the lead for the remainder of the stanza, taking their largest advantage with 3:03 remaining on a bucket by Ryon Howard.

With the final seconds ticking off the first-half clock, Geffen fouled Hassan, who was attempting to heave a desperation buzzer-beater, behind the three-point arc. Hassan converted all three free throws to give the Pioneers a seven point advantage, 36-29, heading into the locker room.

Hassan led all first-half scorers with 12 points off the bench. Anderson scored nine points to pace the Bobcats.

Quinnipiac outrebounded the Pioneers, 37-28, while also shooting just over a percentage point higher from the floor, 47.3 percent (26-55) to 46.2 percent (24-52).

Quinnipiac returns to action Thursday, when they welcome Saint Francis (Pa.) to the TD Banknorth Sports Center. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.