WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (Nov. 24, 2010) – The Saint Francis men's basketball team couldn't overcome a season-high 24 turnovers as it dropped a 60-55 non-conference contest on Wednesday night at The Chase Family Arena in West Hartford, Conn.

Sophomore Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) (Atlantic City, N.J. / Atlantic City) had a team-high 15 points, while sophomore Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) (Chesterfield, Va. / Fork Union Military Academy) added 10 points and 6 rebounds.

The Red Flash fell to 2-3 on the season, and will return to action at Youngstown State in a 7:05 p.m. tipoff on Saturday night. That game can be heard live on The EDGE 1400 AM (Loretto), and a link will be available at www.myedgeradio.com.

Morgan Sabia led the Hawks with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while Joe Zeglinski and Clayton Brothers pitched in with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

“We made poor decisions and didn't take care of the basketball tonight,” said Saint Francis head coach Don Friday. “I thought our guys played very hard, and competed, but we have to take care of the basketball. We'll circle our wagons and get ready for another tough road game on Saturday.”

The teams traded leads in the first half, and early part of the second half. Senior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) (Zagreb, Croatia / Life Center Academy) made a reverse layup off a feed from sophomore Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) to give SFU a 35-34 lead with 9:26 remaining.

However, the Red Flash went the next 2:42 without scoring as the Hawks opened a 41-35 lead. Saint Francis cut the lead to four, 51-47, with 2:26 remaining. However, Hartford made 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to close it out.

SFU had a season-high 42 rebounds, and out-rebounded the Hawks 42-18, but the Red Flash were whistled for 24 fouls (against 14 for UH) to go with the 24 turnovers.

Freshman Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) (Hershey, Pa. / Hershey) had a career-high 6 points to go with 4 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Felder finished with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block.

Jukic, who had 4 points and 4 rebounds in the first half, had an offensive rebound and tip-in with 1.4 seconds remaining to pull SFU into a 17-17 tie at halftime.

Defense ruled in the first 20 minutes as Saint Francis shot just 25.0 percent (6-of-24) and Hartford shot 25.9 percent (7-of-27). The Hawks blocked three shots, and SFU blocked two. The Red Flash committed 14 turnovers, several unforced, in the stanza, exceeding its total of 13 in last Saturday's win against Bucknell.

Saint Francis had just two field goals, both by Jukic, over the final 8:25 of the first half, while Hartford mustered only a 3-pointer by Zeglinski over the last 8:41.

Jukic and Shannon had 4 points each, while Sabia led the Hawks with 7 points and Zeglinski had 6.

For periodic men's basketball updates on Twitter, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert at SFUVolkert.