BETHLEHEM, Pa.  (Dec. 13, 2010) – Lehigh used a 19-5 run to take control early in the first half and never looked back in defeating the Saint Francis men's basketball team, 79-61, on Monday night at Stabler Arena.

 

Senior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) (Zagreb, Croatia / Life Center Academy) was 10-of-12 from the free throw line and had a game-high 21 points to go with 5 rebounds. Sophomore Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) had his second straight, and third career double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore Tony Peters (Roselle, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) (Roselle, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) had a career-high 10 points to go with 5 rebounds.

 

C.J. McCollum had a team-high 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals for the Mountain Hawks, while Michael Ojo pitched in with 13 points and Jordan Hamilton added 10.

 

Saint Francis dropped its fifth straight game to fall to 2-7 overall. The Red Flash will return to action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night when they visit Ohio.

 

“I was really happy with our effort and focus tonight,” said Saint Francis head coach Don Friday. “We got nice contributions off our bench, but we have to find a way to get a flow to our offense. Right now we aren't getting into a rhythm. We have a tough stretch of games coming up. We work hard, and we'll get better.”

 

Jukic's 10 free throws and 10 free throw attempts were both career highs. Peters also had career highs with six free throws and 10 attempts. Sophomore Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) (Atlantic City, N.J. / Atlantic City) had a rare off night from the field, but contributed career highs with 5 assists and 3 steals.

 

After falling behind 9-2, Saint Francis used an 8-2 run to pull within 11-10 with 15:14 to go in the first half. However, the Mountain Hawks forced the Red Flash into foul trouble and went on a 19-5 run of their own to take their largest lead, 30-15, with 7:57 remaining.

 

Peters provided a spark off the bench with a career-high seven points in the first half. He helped Saint Francis chip the deficit down to eight points, 32-24, by scoring five straight points from the charity stripe.

 

Lehigh had a 10-point edge, 41-31, at the break behind an 18-for-22 effort at the free throw line. Felder had 5 points and 6 rebounds in just nine minutes before leaving with three fouls. Jukic had a team-high 10 points, and Shannon tied a career-high with 4 assists.

 

McCollum had a game-high 13 points at halftime.

 

Coming out of the break, Saint Francis cut the deficit to eight with a layup by sophomore Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) (Chesterfield, Va. / Fork Union Military Academy). However, that's as close as the Red Flash would get as Lehigh built a lead as large as 18 points.

 

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