LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 26, 2008) – Redshirt junior Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist) (Dakar, Senegal / Riverdale Baptist) became Saint Francis University's second hero in as many games by hitting a fade-away jumper from just outside the free throw line with 3.9 seconds remaining to lift the Red Flash to an exciting 73-72 Northeast Conference men's basketball victory over Central Connecticut State on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Arena.

Blue Devils senior sharp-shooter Tristan Blackwood failed on a 3-point attempt at the buzzer, and the Saint Francis student section stormed the court to celebrate with their victorious classmates.

The Red Flash have won two straight games to improve to 5-15 overall, and 3-6 in the Northeast Conference. CCSU dropped to 9-12 overall, and 5-5 in the conference. Saint Francis will try to make it three in a row when it travels to Quinnipiac for a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday night.

Redshirt sophomore Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) made eight of nine attempts from the field to pace the Red Flash with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal, redshirt junior Cale Nelson (Newville, PA /Big Spring) (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) tallied 17 points and 3 assists, and junior Marquis Ford (St. Petersburg, FL /St. Petersburg) (St. Petersburg, Fla. / St. Petersburg) had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from long range.

Saint Francis shot a season-best 60.0 percent (30-of-50) from the field and out-rebounded the Blue Devils 26-24. The Red Flash shot a remarkable 69.0 percent (18-of-26) from the field in the second half.

The win marked the second time in three seasons that the Red Flash defeated CCSU in the final five seconds of a game at DeGol Arena. Junior Steve Profeta (Carnegie, PA /Chartiers Valley ) (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) nailed a shot from nearly the same spot on the floor at the buzzer to defeat the Blue Devils, 52-51, on Feb. 12, 2006.

Blackwood led CCSU with 21 points and 7 assists, while Marcus Palmer added 17 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals, Ken Horton had 14 points and 2 steals, and Shemik Thompson tallied 12 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.

The game featured six ties and eight lead changes, but five of the lead changes and three ties came in the final five minutes. There were two lead changes in a wild final minute.

The Blue Devils took a 36-30 lead into halftime and they held that advantage during the first nine minutes of the second half. The Red Flash took their first lead of the second half on a free throw by Ford to make it 51-50 with 10:38 remaining. The Blue Devils would build that lead to four points on two different occasions. Palmer gave them a 60-56 lead with a 3-pointer with 6:05 to play, but Ford gave SFU a big spark over the next several minutes. He made a layup to cut it to 60-58, and then he came up with a big steal at the other end and bounced a pass to Sweetney for an easy layup to tie the game at 60-60 with 5:11 remaining.

Palmer made another layup for CCSU, but Ford came back down the floor and nailed a 3-pointer to give the Red Flash a 63-62 edge. Sweetney's layup gave SFU a three point lead, but the resilient Blue Devils scored the game's next five points to put the Red Flash behind 67-65 with 3:00 to go.

Nelson drove the baseline at the other end and sank a reverse layup to tie the game at 67-67 and, after a defensive rebound, Nelson missed a 3-point attempt that Dieng was able to pull down and put back with a thunderous slam to give Saint Francis a 69-67 lead with 1:24 remaining.

Blackwood made a pair of free throws with 58 seconds remaining to tie the ballgame again, and Nelson hit a jumper from just inside the free throw line to give the Red Flash a 71-69 edge with 32.1 seconds left.

However, Blackwood, who needed five 3-pointers in the game to tie the Northeast Conference all-time record from long distance, nailed a trey from the left corner with 12.8 seconds remaining to give the Blue Devils a 72-71 lead.

Saint Francis called a full timeout with 8.6 remaining to set up a play. CCSU had only committed two team fouls in the half, and Saint Francis head coach Bobby Jones was expecting the Blue Devils to foul the Red Flash. His assumption was correct and Blackwood fouled Nelson with 6.7 seconds on the clock. After getting the ball into play again, Profeta found Dieng for his 14-footer to give Saint Francis a 73-72 lead and send its fans into a frenzy with 3.9 seconds remaining.

However, the Blue Devils, who had no timeouts remaining, had another look at the basket before time ran out. Sweetney got a hand in the face of Blackwood, whose 3-point attempt fell short as the Red Flash fans charged the court. If Blackwood had made the shot, he would have tied the NEC's all-time record for 3-pointers made at 300.

Game Notes:

Postgame Quotes

Head coach Bobby Jones:

Opening Statement:

“First of all, I'm really proud of the way we came out, particularly after an emotional win on Thursday. (That was) a three overtime game, sometimes as coaches you tend to worry about coming out and having an emotional letdown the next game. I thought this team came out really focused, and I thought we came out with great energy. I'm really proud of the way we finished this basketball game. In the first half, I'm not so sure we were playing our best basketball. I thought at times we didn't block out as well as we could. But these guys, the last two minutes of the first half, I thought we played well, and I thought we carried that focus into the second half. I certainly credit this team for a great effort tonight.”

You've had these games go against you the past so many times. Duquesne last year and Bucknell last year. To get two in a row like this, do you feel like the pendulum might be swinging back your way a little bit?

“I'm not as concerned about that. I'm really proud. When these guys work so hard to prepare for these games, you certainly like to be on the winning side at least your share. Thursday certainly was a valiant team effort, and I thought tonight they really showed maturity. We maintained our composure. We got down (10 points). We had a costly turnover there at half court. To there credit, they went back and was focused the next trip down. These are two good wins for a team that certainly has continued to mature and grow as a basketball team.”

On the last play, can you talk about what you designed during that timeout?

“I can talk about what we talked about during the timeout. We knew there was a chance that they would come out and foul because we were still not shooting in the bonus at the time. We thought maybe they would come out and allow a few seconds to run off the clock, and foul right away without allowing us to get a shot attempt, which they did the play before that. So we had Steve Profeta (Carnegie, PA /Chartiers Valley ) inbound the ball. We wanted to have Bass run an up-screen for Devin to run Devin to the block, and have Steve inbound the ball to one of the guards and then run to the corner. At that point, we thought maybe we could go from Marquis (Ford) to Steve right into the post to Devin, and hoping to get an “and-one” or at least get a layup shot attempt before they were able to foul. They denied the ball to the guard. Bass ended up with the ball, and he hit an incredible shot and we're certainly pleased with the win.”

Are you surprised that CCSU didn't foul? He had three more fouls to give.

“Well I don't know. I think maybe they were trying to foul. Sometimes in those situations, you talk about things and then you go out on the floor and there are times that those things don't get translated from the bench. But you know, it happened so quick. I'm sure (CCSU head coach) Howie (Dickenman) wanted to foul, and they were probably a little bit surprised that the ball ended up in Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist)'s hands. But Bass made a heady play. He was denied. We wanted to go inside to Devin, but (Bass) turned and faced up and he had a good look. I'm glad he had the confidence to take that shot. He's a good shooter, so he is certainly capable of making that shot.”

Redshirt Sophomore Forward Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist):

What do these two wins do for you guys? You were here last year. You remember that Duquesne game, and those types of games are tough to overcome. How do you think this will translate for the rest of the year?

“Like coach said earlier. We just want to continue to work hard, and take it game by game. Just continue to work hard in practice. It's good for these two wins so we can build on it the next week going into the next game.”

Did you look at this homestand with any added significance that you had to do something during this three-game homestand for this season to mean anything?

“Well yeah, one of the things we focus on in practice is I know at home sometimes we tend to have slow starts, so coach said one of the key focal points going into tonight's game was to get off to a great start and set the tone, so we can control the tempo of the game going down the stretch. It turned out in our favor.”

Where does this team go from here?

“Like I said, we just want to take it one game at a time. Guys have to continue to work, stay together through adversity and we'll just go from there.”

Junior Guard Marquis Ford (St. Petersburg, FL /St. Petersburg):

You've had a little bit of an up and down year. How tough has it been for you, and how rewarding is a game like this for you?

“It wasn't tough at all. I have extreme confidence in my teammates. I'm the ultimate team player, so whatever happens, happens. I'm with the team whether we win or lose. I'm going to cheer for the guys. Playing really doesn't matter. I just want to win.”

What does this victory mean to you guys as a team?

“It's big because we were struggling before as you know. Now that we picked up these two wins, it's good for our confidence. We're going to take it into the next game at Quinnipiac. We'll take it one by one and just try to get ourselves ready.”

Where does this team go from here?

“I agree solely with Devin. We all stick together. We all feel like we are family. Family go through adversity, but we work through adversity, so we're gonna make it.”

Redshirt Junior Forward Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist):

CCSU's coach said that as soon as the ball left your hand, he knew it was going in. What did you think?

“I think everything that we went through last year and early on this year and all of the hard work that we kept on putting in is kind of paying off. Now we are starting to understand how to win games. At the end of games, we have to keep our composure and our focus, and that obviously helped a lot on that shot.”

Why did you take the shot? Most everybody else thought that the shot would go in to Profeta or Sweetney. Why did you decide to take the shot?

“That is not the first time I have taken it. I am very used to taking that kind of shot in practice. As I set the screen on Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist), I felt like my man slid off to help. So I knew that all I needed to do was just turn around on my left shoulder and I would have a good shot at the rim.”

What's it like to be a hero?

“It's a nice feeling, but we can't be satisfied with this. We still have a long way to go. Obviously on Thursday, we have a tough game up at Quinnipiac and right now that's where a lot of our focus is at.”

CCSU Head Coach Howie Dickinman:

Opening Statement

“It was a very disappointing loss for Central Connecticut, but a very exciting win for Saint Francis. What helped them tonight was probably the win two nights ago against the Terriers. They made shots. We couldn't stop them. When we needed stops, we couldn't (get them). They answered with some inside game, but most of those jump shots we didn't get out on them enough. We didn't hands up on them, and they made the play to win the game. But we had done that with a great effort from Tristan Blackwood. I've always said this about Saint Francis of Pennsylvania. They've had a few down years with injuries and other things. I always respected the enthusiasm that the bench had. There was a time when they had seven or eight players. We would watch tape of their games as we prepared for either Saint Francis or the team that they were playing on tape. They always seemed to be upbeat and positive. The bench was enthusiastic, and I always thought that was a real strength of the program here. Even though there were times that the Red Flash don't win as many as they want to, but they are always battling. They are always in there. You can never count them out. I've always respected Bobby Jones' effort. Even when they lost nine in a row and we're really in trouble as far as making the tournament. But now they are back in the picture after winning a triple overtime game. I remember four or five years ago we were 5-10. We won a triple overtime game and then we won nine out of our next 12. We used that as a springboard. This is what might happen for Saint Francis”

“They made plays. They showed more poise than we did. I thought we made some questionable decisions on offense. Sometimes our shot selection was poor. They weren't good shots. We lost some poise. I thought that Saint Francis maintained their (poise), and that was probably the difference in the game. I have to check the tape, but I don't think we had a player with his hands up challenging that shot.”

Did that shot surprise you? Did you think Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist) was taking that shot?

“Yes (it surprised me). No we didn't think he would take that shot. That whole thing was a designed broken play, but the bottom line is that it went in.”

You took the timeout. Why did you take that because then you were out of timeouts?

“We wanted to take the timeout to say to foul. Again, we want to foul, but not when they were shooting. The other side of that was to tell them that this was our last time out. (We had) no more. The other thing was that we wanted to play what we call 55 switch. If there was a criss-cross or an exchange or a screen, we were going to switch that so we wouldn't get in a position where one of their players was free on a screen. Again, I'd have to see the play (on tape), but my guess is perhaps we did switch it out top with the guards. Profeta gave up the ball and we thought he might get it back for a shot, but we didn't expect Dieng to come out and get the ball. Then the turnaround jump shot, I knew it was going in as soon as it left his hands.”

You told them to foul?

“First I told them to foul. You want to try to get the ball back in the back (court).”

You had three more fouls to give, why didn't you use all of them?

“We didn't use all of them because in a situation like that kids are kids. I don't know if they understand and we don't practice that in situations like with 10 or 12 seconds to go when we have three fouls to give. Foul, foul, foul. The other thing was it was a one point game and all they needed was a basket. Perhaps if it was a two point game I would have thought a little bit more about it and they would only tie us, or if it was a three point game we certainly would have fouled. But Dieng came to the ball. I want to see if we were putting any pressure on the in-bounder. my guess is probably not. I don't know. I know one thing, they got too many open shots from us. What we do after the game is we break the tape down and we calculate each shot whether it was challenged or not. We come up with a percentage of after a particular game, like the last game (against Robert Morris), was 11 out of 15 shots were not challenged. They were converted for 73 percent. The other side of that 20 were challenged, and they made seven, so it's 35 percent. So we give these statistics to our players. As an example, 'This is what happens when you get out to challenge shots.' Generally, it's really pretty accurate almost every game. Somewhere like 33 or 38 percent when you challenge a shot, we're talking jump shots now. Generally it's probably 66 or 67 percent on unchallenged shots. They only missed 20 shots. Saint Francis made 30 shots, and missed 20. I think a lot of those were unchallenged and that's awful.”

They hit 69 percent from the field in the second half, and that's really the difference in the game:

“I know they got a couple inside shots. They missed a three, and they got a put-back dunk. Sweetney misses a three, follows it up and gets the loose ball under the basket and lays it up and in. On the shots they took and missed, they even converted on. One of the reasons there weren't many rebounds in the game probably.”

“Good luck to you guys. I hope you make the tournament. I hope we make it too by the way. Bobby Jones does a great job. One good thing is he has all of his players coming back next year.”