LORETTO, Pa. (Dec. 16, 2009) – Junior Cedric Latimer (Los Angeles, CA /Windward) (Los Angeles, Calif. / Windward) fell one rebound shy of his first career double-double in a terrific effort, but Youngstown State scored 34 points in the final 12-plus minutes to hand the Saint Francis men's basketball team a disappointing 74-65 loss on Wednesday night at DeGol Arena.

Playing without leading scorer Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist), a youthful Red Flash squad held a 44-40 lead with 12:34 remaining in the game and were up 48-47 with under nine minutes to play. However, the Penguins made six of their final nine field goal attempts, and made 15-of-18 free throws, in the final 8:14 to take the lead and never relinquish it.

Saint Francis drops to 3-7 overall on the season, and will now turn its attention to Akron in a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday, in Akron, Ohio.

Latimer finished with 16 points, a career-high nine rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal, freshman Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J. / Atlantic City) had 14 points and two assists, junior Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden / Solebury Prep) added 12 points and three rebounds, and freshman Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) (Chesterfield, Va. / Fork Union Military Academy) contributed nine points, six rebounds and a career-high four assists.

DeAndre Mays had a game-high 27 points and six rebounds for YSU, while Sirlester Martin had 16 points and five rebounds.

The Red Flash made five of their first six shots from the field to jump out to a 10-9 lead, but Youngstown State answered with a 6-0 run. Vytas Sulskis missed a pair of free throws and a chance to extend the Penguins lead before Shannon scored four points on an 8-0 run to give SFU an 18-15 lead. All four of Shannon's points were scored at the charity stripe. But an early trend was a game of runs as Youngstown State again scored the next seven points to take the lead right back, 22-18, with 8:33 remaining in the first half. Saint Francis scored the game's next five points to make it 23-22, Red Flash, before the team's traded buckets to end the half. Youngstown State (4-5) took a 32-30 lead into the break.

Early in the second half, the Penguins had a 40-36 lead when the Red Flash went on a key run. Latimer started it with a layup, while Hoffman made 1-of-2 free throws and then completed a traditional 3-point play to give SFU a 42-40 lead. Saint Francis got a stop at the other end and freshman Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) (Newport News, Va. / Denbigh) was fouled on a fast break coming into the paint. He made both free throws to give the Red Flash a 44-40 lead with 12:34 remaining. However, that would be SFU's largest lead of the night as Youngstown State went on a 5-0 run to answer. The teams traded points over the next two minutes before Mays made a pair of free throws to give YSU the lead for good, 49-48, with 8:14 to play.

Sirlester Martin then hit a baseline jumper, and Ashen Ward had an offensive rebound and put-back during a 3-point play to make it 54-48 with 6:50 to go. Orandi hit a big 3-pointer with 5:34 to play to cut the lead to three points, 56-53, but Saint Francis wouldn't get any closer as the Penguins had another 5-0 run to pull away.

The Red Flash shot 50.0 percent from the field (24-of-48), while Youngstown State shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53), and the Penguins held a 34-27 advantage in rebounds. A 66.0 percent free throw shooting team coming in, Youngstown State made 23-of-32 attempts (71.9 percent), including 15 of their last 18 (83.3 percent).