LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 16, 2010) – A pair of freshmen pulled off the final play sequence with Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J. / Atlantic City) draining a pair of free throws with 1.0 second remaining to lift the Saint Francis men's basketball team to a thrilling 54-52 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, on an emotional day at the Maurice Stokes Athletics Center. SFU honored the late, great “Stormin' Norman” (Norm) Van Lier prior to the game by hanging his No. 12 Red Flash jersey in the Champions Room of DeGol Arena.
Freshman Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) and Shannon teamed up on the winning play after the Knights' Alvin Mofunanya was whistled for his fifth foul on a moving screen with 5.6 seconds remaining in a 52-52 ballgame. Felder threaded an inbounds pass to Shannon, who drove the length of the floor and was fouled underneath the basket as he attempted a layup. He went to the charity stripe for two free throws, and sank both to send the 1,467 fans in attendance into a frenzy. FDU's Sean Baptiste attempted a 90-foot desperation shot at the buzzer, but it fell well short of the hoop.
The Red Flash shot over 50.0 percent from the floor for the fifth time this season to improve to 5-12 overall, and 3-3 in the Northeast Conference. They matched last year's league win total after just six games in the 18-game NEC schedule. Saint Francis will return to action against a familiar foe on Thursday night when it plays Monmouth for the second time in a week, this time in West Long Branch, N.J. That game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m.
Senior Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) had a game-high 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block to lead the way for the Red Flash. He finished 6-of-8 from the field and moved past Charlie Kates (1977-81) and tied Joey Anderson (1987-91) for 14th on the school's all-time rebounding list with 666 for his career.
Shannon reached double digits in scoring for the seventh time in eight games with 11 points, while adding two rebounds, one steal and one assist. Juniors Cedric Latimer (Los Angeles, CA /Windward) (Los Angeles, Calif. / Windward) and Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden / Solebury Prep) had nine points each, and Felder tied a career high with three blocks and added six rebounds in a career high 36 minutes of action.
FDU was paced by Kamil Svrdlik and Mofunanya with 13 and 12 points, respectively, before they each fouled out in the final minute. Grier had 10 points, and leading scorer Baptiste was held to eight points, seven under his season average.
Both teams had runs to make it a back-and-forth game. There were eight ties and eight lead changes to go with the crazy finish. The teams were both scoreless from the 4:06 mark of the second half, when Latimer made a pair of free throws to give the Red Flash a 50-49 lead, until Fairleigh Dickinson's Mike Scott pulled up for an 18-foot jumper to give his team a 51-50 edge with 1:03 remaining. On the next SFU possession, Orandi got fouled in the act of shooting, and made both to give the Red Flash a 52-51 lead with 40.1 seconds remaining. Fairleigh Dickinson coach Greg Vetrone then called a timeout with 27.7 seconds left, and 23 seconds on the shot clock. The Red Flash were whistled for a foul with 13.1 seconds remaining, sending Baptiste to the line. He made both to give the lead right back to the Knights 53-52. With Saint Francis trying to get out of FDU's offensive zone, there was a scramble for the ball with a jump ball call being awarded to the Knights with 10.7 seconds remaining. However, Mofunanya was whistled for his moving screen with 5.6 seconds left, giving the ball back to SFU. Shannon got the inbounds pass and drove the length of the court and drew the fifth foul on Svrdlik with 1.0 seconds left. Shannon's first free throw attempt rolled around the rim and dropped in, and his second swished for a 54-52 Red Flash victory.
With Orandi and Shannon combining to go 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final minute, Saint Francis improved to 35-for-38 (.921) from the free throw this season in games that are within 10 points.
Buckets by Orandi, senior Kurt Hoffman (Johnstown, PA /Greater Johnstown ) (Johnstown, Pa. / Greater Johnstown) and Shannon gave the Red Flash an early 6-1 lead, but the Knights stormed back with a 19-4 run and had all of the momentum with a 20-10 lead with 6:47 remaining in the first half.
However, Sweetney took over in the final five minutes of the half to help Saint Francis get back in the game. He ended a scoring drought that lasted six minutes, 13 seconds by nailing a 3-pointer from the corner. Latimer came up with a big offensive rebound and reverse layup to cut the lead to 20-15. Sweetney then finished the half with a dunk off an off an offensive rebound, and a terrific finish off an Orandi pass to complete a 9-0 run to end the half. His final bucket came with 0.4 seconds on the clock to pull the Red Flash within 20-19 at the half.
The Red Flash held the Knights without a field goal for the final 6:47 of the first half to end it on a 9-0 run. Saint Francis shot 47.4 percent from the field (9-of-19), and was led by Sweetney with nine points, five rebounds and a steal. Fairleigh Dickinson hit on 7-of-20 field goal attempts (.350) and had two players – Svrdlik and Baptiste – with seven points each.
Svrdlik's baby hook gave the Knights a 24-21 early in the second half. But Shannon sparked an 8-0 SFU run when he hit a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the ballgame for the first time since it was 8-8 with 12:16 remaining in the first half.
Sweetney faked a 3-point attempt and drove the baseline for a layup and got fouled in the process. He swished the free throw to make it 27-24, Red Flash. After another defensive stand, Felder went up for a big offensive rebound and finished strong to make it 29-24 and force the Knights into a timeout.
But Fairleigh Dickinson again made a run and came back to tie it at 35-35 when Grier bounced one off the glass with 12:19 to go. Svrdlik, Grier and Scott made three straight layups to give Fairleigh Dickinson a 41-35 lead with 10:38 remaining. Mofunanya made a pair of free throws to bring it back to six, 43-37, with 8:39 to go, but that's when the Red Flash began their charge back.
SFU got the deficit down to one on several occasions, but Shannon made a big shot with Mofunanya's hands in his face for a long two-pointer to make it 49-48, FDU, with 5:44 left. SFU then forced a turnover at the other end and Latimer drew the third foul on Mofunanya to go to the free throw line for a one-and-one. Latimer made both to give the lead back to SFU, 50-49, with 4:06 remaining. That's when the teams traded defensive stops over the next three minutes before Grier pulled up for an 18-foot jumper with 1:03 remaining to give the Knights a 51-50 lead.
Game Notes: Senior Kurt Hoffman (Johnstown, PA /Greater Johnstown ) was 4-for-5 from the field with eight points and one assist in his 100th game played; the Red Flash finished 11-of-14 from the free throw line (.786); SFU had a season-low 18 rebounds.
Post-Game Quotes:
Don Friday Opening Statement
“I like the fact that tonight was a game of streaks. Unlike on Thursday night when it was a 17-4, we never really recovered in that second half. We were down 20-10, and at one point we were up 29-24 and we went on a nice run ourselves. They answered back. I thought tonight that with the adjustments we did make we were able to reign our guys back in, and we had a purpose on what kind of shots we were going to get, who we were going to go to, or play some two-man and three-man games. In the end, some shots didn't fall for us late tonight. But I thought our kids' intensity defensively, they really believed we were going to get some stops. Our kids didn't panic when that ball went out of bounds with 13 seconds to play. Our kids dug in. They forced a turnover. We work in practice about once every week or two, we have a goofy play that we call “winner,” and tonight winner won.”
Do you feel like this is a little bit of a turning point for the season?
“You have to experience winning, and you also have to experience coming back like that. I thought our kids made plays when we needed to make them. A turning point, or is it another thing of gaining more experience? Winning experience. You can have bad experience too. It was winning experience tonight.”
Talking about Umar Shannon's winning free throws:
“I said this the other night. When you watch Umar shoot in practice, he does everything the same way as he does in a game. He goes at the same pace. I knew they were going in. You have funny feelings, and the basketball Gods. He works at it, and that's a big part of his game. I saw him do it in high school, I saw him do it in AAU basketball, and I knew he was going to do it tonight. That's why I put the ball in his hands at the end of the game.”
Umar Shannon:
Can you explain what happened on that last play?
“I got some open space, and Will (Felder) delivered the ball right on the money. I went down and I tried to look for some collisions, and I got it. I didn't think that the ref was going to call it, but he called it. And I went to the line and I knocked them down.”
Was it pressure making those shots?
“It wasn't pressure. It was experience, like they were telling me before I shot the ball. 'It's just an experience, relax.' I think they were more nervous than me.”
When you shot the first free throw and it's rolling around the rim, what were you thinking?
“Please go in, please go in.”
Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist):
This was a big night for the program with the honoring of Norm Van Lier. Did you guys need to win a ballgame like this to get some positive momentum?
“Definitely because I was around the last time that Norm Van Lier came around and spoke to the team. He was really trying to help us get back to the old Saint Francis with tradition. Coach Friday came in to talk to the guys (this morning) to say that Norm would have loved this. Get this one for Norm. At that point, we, as a team, had a tremendous focus coming into the game.”
