AKRON, Ohio (Dec. 20, 2009) – The Saint Francis men's basketball team couldn't keep pace with the Mid-American Conference's preseason favorite in an 80-51 defeat against Akron on Sunday afternoon at Rhodes Arena.
Freshman Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J. / Atlantic City) led the way with 16 points and four rebounds for the Red Flash, while junior Cedric Latimer (Los Angeles, CA /Windward) (Los Angeles, Calif. / Windward) had 13 points and one block.
The Red Flash, who are 2-0 and in first place in the Northeast Conference, fell to 3-8 overall on the season. They will now travel to Pittsburgh, where they will play their final game before a long Christmas break against Duquesne, beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Playing without senior Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) for the second straight game (personal reasons), Saint Francis struggled against Akron's size and balanced lineup. The Zips came into the game without a single player averaging double figures in scoring, but had nine players averaging at least 5.0 ppg.
Akron shot 50.8 percent from the field, including a 15-of-22 (.682) effort in the second half. The Red Flash shot 33.3 percent, but were out-rebounded 43-25 in the contest.
Akron got off to a fast start, jumping out to an 11-2 lead. Saint Francis would get back in it with an 8-0 run, which including a pair of 3-pointers by Latimer, to pull within 18-12 with 10:11 to go in the first half. However, the Red Flash would go more than six minutes without a point as the Zips pulled ahead 35-12. SFU finished the half strong, but still trailed 40-18.
Akron shot 41.0 percent and Saint Francis shot 33.3 percent in the first stanza. However, the Zips made 16-of-39 attempts, while the Red Flash attempted just 18 shots, making six. Akron had a 25-11 edge in rebounds, and took advantage of 13 SFU turnovers to score 23 points off those turnovers.
The Red Flash came out toe-to-toe in the second half and matched the Zips with 11 points through the first five minutes. However, Akron (7-3) went on a 16-5 run to pull away.
Steve McNees had a game-high 17 points, while Brett McClanahan and Jimmy Conyers had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Zips.
Freshman Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) had seven points and two rebounds, while freshmen Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) (Newport News, Va. / Denbigh) and Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) (Chesterfield, Va. / Fork Union Military Academy) either tied or set career highs with four and three steals, respectively.
