WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Jan. 21, 2010) – After getting off to a strong start, the Saint Francis offense went cold in a 69-40 defeat in Northeast Conference men's basketball action on Thursday night at Monmouth.

The Red Flash fell to 5-13 overall, 3-4 in the Northeast Conference. They will return to action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when they visit Fairleigh Dickinson. The Hawks improved to 9-10 overall, and 5-2 in the league with their sixth win in seven games.

Senior Devin Sweetny (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) led all scorers with 14 points to go with 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Junior Cedric Latimer (Los Angeles, CA /Windward) (Los Angeles, Calif. / Windward) had 8 points and 2 rebounds.

Will Campbell and Justin Sofman had 12 and 10 points, respectively, to lead Monmouth.

The Red Flash got off to a good start, playing even with the Hawks through the first nine minutes. Felder made a layup to open the scoring, and Sweetney proceeded to score the next 10 Saint Francis points for a 12-10 lead. Monmouth tied it up, and Latimer completed a traditional 3-point play to give SFU a 15-12 advantage with 11:40 remaining in the first half.

However, it was all Hawks after that as the Red Flash had just one field goal over the next seven minutes. Monmouth finished the first half on a 20-10 run to take a 32-25 lead into the break.

Saint Francis then made just one field goal, a Latimer 3-pointer, over the first 13 minutes of the second half as the Hawks built their biggest lead to 29 points on George Barbour dunk with 6.4 seconds remaining.

The Red Flash shot 26.7 percent from the field (12-of-45), while Monmouth made 23-of-51 attempts (.451). Freshman Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) had 3 steals, 2 blocks and three rebounds, and junior Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden / Solebury Prep) added 6 points and 2 rebounds.