BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. (Jan. 7, 2010) – A long second half scoring drought cost the Saint Francis University (Pa.) men's basketball team in its first Northeast Conference loss of the season, 69-57, versus St. Francis College (N.Y.) on Thursday night at the Pope Center.

The Red Flash scored just three points during a stretch of 11 minutes, 9 seconds as the Terriers bounced back from an early 7-0 run by Saint Francis (Pa.) to start the second half. SFU had a 38-34 lead before the 19-3 St. Francis-NY run made it a 53-41 ballgame with under four minutes to play.

The loss drops the Red Flash to 4-10 overall, and 2-1 in the Northeast Conference. They will return to action on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. when they travel to Long Island to face the lone remaining unbeaten team in the league. The Terriers improved to 4-8 overall, and 2-1 in the Northeast Conference.

Freshman Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J. / Atlantic City) continued his emergence for the Red Flash with a game-high 18 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. He was the only player in double figure scoring for Saint Francis (Pa.).

Akeem Bennett also had 18 points for St. Francis-NY, while Kayode Ayeni and Ricky Cadell added 15 and 11 points, respectively.

The game began as a barn-burner, as match-ups between the two Franciscan institutions tend to be. There were five ties and five lead changes in a highly entertaining first half.

A 3-pointer by junior Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden / Solebury Prep) gave Saint Francis-Pa. its largest lead of the night, 11-5, early on. But the Terriers answered with a 6-0 run to tie the game up, and Bennett nailed a 3-pointer to give them their first lead of the game, 14-13, with 12:04 to play in the first half. It was part of a 15-2 run that gave St. Francis-NY its largest lead of the half, 20-13, with 10:39 remaining. SFU went on a 13-3 run of its own to take the lead right back, 26-23, with 5:13 to go.

But the Terriers again closed out the half strong, and took a 34-31 lead into the break.

The Red Flash came out of halftime with purpose and intensity, taking a 38-34 lead on a 7-0 run. They held St. Francis-NY scoreless over the first four minutes of the stanza. But the Terriers scored the next nine points,and held SFU without a point for 5:41 until Orandi hit a 3-pointer to cut the SFC lead to 43-41 with 10:13 remaining.

St. Francis-NY kept its foot on the gas pedal and held the Red Flash scoreless for another 5:28 during another 10-0 run. In total, it was a 19-3 Terriers run that spanned 11:09 and turned a 38-34 SFU lead into an 53-41 Terriers lead. St. Francis-NY did not make a field goal over the final seven minutes of the game, but made 16-of-18 free throw attempts during that span. The Terriers came into the game shooting 60.1 percent at the charity stripe, but finished 22-of-27 (81.5 percent).

Freshman Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and a block, junior Cedric Latimer (Los Angeles, CA /Windward) (Los Angeles, Calif. / Windward) had 9 points and 4 rebounds, and Orandi and freshman Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) (Chesterfield, Va. / Fork Union Military Academy) had 6 points each.

Saint Francis-Pa. shot 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the field, and had a 31-25 rebounding advantage. The Terriers shot 45.2 percent (19-of-42) and forced SFU into 20 turnovers.