MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (Dec. 8, 2007) – Redshirt sophomore Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) scored a season high 19 points and recorded a career high 6 steals to spark the Saint Francis men's basketball team to a 75-66 victory over Robert Morris in both teams' Northeast Conference openers on Saturday night at the Sewall Center.



Sweetney made 13-of-14 attempts from the foul line to help the Red Flash win their second straight game, and fourth straight NEC contest dating back to last season.



SFU made 6-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute and played great defense down the stretch to close the game on an 8-0 run. The Colonials missed their final six shots from the field and committed three turnovers over the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds.



Junior Steve Profeta (Carnegie, PA /Chartiers Valley ) (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) hit on 4-of-7 three-point attempts for a career high 14 points off the bench for Saint Francis, while junior Chris Berry (Seagoville, TX/Seagoville) (Seagoville, Texas / Seagoville) had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, and redshirt junior Cale Nelson (Newville, PA /Big Spring) (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) added 10 points and a season high 7 assists despite feeling ill.



Tony Lee paced the Colonials with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, and Bateko Francisco added 16 points and 2 steals.



The win for the Red Flash snapped a five-game skid against Robert Morris, dating back to a 78-72 victory on Jan. 10, 2005, in Moon Township. The win also marked the second straight NEC-opening win for Saint Francis.



The Red Flash will now take a week off for final exams before hosting two consecutive home games at DeGol Arena. Lock Haven visits for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday night before Iona comes to town for another 7 p.m. tip on Dec. 19. Both games can be heard live on The EDGE 1400 AM and a link to listen will be available at www.goRedFlash.com.



“I am very proud of our guys for the effort that they gave tonight against one of the better teams in the Northeast Conference,” said Saint Francis head coach Bobby Jones. “We played excellent defense, rebounded well and made our free throws. We got contributions from everyone. This is a good start for us in the conference, but we need to keep working to continue our growth. I certainly believe that we have made strides toward becoming a better team, but we have more work to do.”



After struggling from the foul line over the past two games, the Red Flash made a season-high 28-of-34 (82.4 percent) attempts against RMU, including 8-of-11 in the last five minutes. Saint Francis also pulled down 40 rebounds, including 17 offensive boards, for the second straight game and won the rebounding battle, 40-31.



Despite 10 ties and 12 lead changes throughout the game, the Red Flash held the lead for all but 23 seconds of the second half. For the first time this season, they took a lead into halftime and won the battle on the scoreboard in both halves of a game. Saint Francis opened the second half on a 6-0 run to turn a 35-31 halftime lead into a 10-point advantage.



However, the Colonials used an 8-0 run of their own to make it a 44-41 game with 14:43 remaining. They continued to chip away and eventually took the lead 47-46 to complete a 14-2 run with 12:22 on the clock. Sweetney then made both ends of a 1-and-1 to give the lead back to the Red Flash 48-47. SFU built its lead back to six points at 53-47 with 11:04 left in the game, but Robert Morris again bounced back with a 5-0 run to pull within one point, 53-52, with 8:24 remaining. Red Flash redshirt junior Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist) (Dakar, Senegal / Riverdale Baptist) fouled out with 4 points and 8 rebounds just 23 seconds later.



But sophomore Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) (Zagreb, Croatia / Life Center Academy) came off the bench to score six straight points, including two on offensive put-backs, to provide Saint Francis with some needed energy in taking a 63-60 lead with 4:12 left. Robert Morris then scored the next four points to take its final lead of the game, 64-63, with 3:13 remaining. Nelson hit a pair of free throws to give the lead back to the Red Flash for good.



Game Notes: Saint Francis improved to 5-4 in Northeast Conference openers under head coach Bobby Jones; The Red Flash have won four straight Northeast Conference games, and five of their last six; SFU has won its last two NEC openers; NEC coaches picked Robert Morris to finish second in the league this season, while the Red Flash were picked to finish tied for sixth; Saint Francis has forced its last two opponents to commit a season-high 18 turnovers; The Red Flash scored 70-or-more (75) points for the first time this season, committed fewer turnovers than their opponent for the first time.