EMMITSBURG, Md. (Feb. 25, 2010) – The Saint Francis men's basketball team battled back from a 15-point first half deficit, but didn't have enough in the tank in a disappointing 67-51 loss on Thursday night at Mount St. Mary's.

The Red Flash had their four-game winning streak snapped, and fell to 11-17 overall and 9-8 in the Northeast Conference. They will wrap up their regular season with a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday night at Wagner. Next Thursday's first round Northeast Conference playoff opponent will be decided after Saturday's action.

Saint Francis was held to 32.7 percent shooting from the field, and 23.5 percent from outside the arc. The Mountaineers shot 52.2 percent and 53.8 percent, respectively, and outscored SFU 22-8 in points off turnovers.

Senior Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) had a team-high 15 points for Saint Francis, while junior Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden / Solebury Prep) had 12 points and 4 rebounds and senior Kurt Hoffman (Johnstown, PA /Greater Johnstown ) (Johnstown, Pa. / Greater Johnstown) had 8 points and a career-tying 9 rebounds to go with 2 steals.

Four players paced the Mount in double-digit scoring. Shawn Atupem had a game-high 15 points, Will Holland had 13 points, Kelly Beidler added 12 and Jeremy Goode contributed 10.

After the teams traded two ties and six lead changes in the early-going, the Red Flash went into an offensive drought for over 10 minutes when Mount St. Mary's turned a 10-10 ballgame into a 29-14 lead with 3:10 remaining before the break. The Red Flash were just 2-for-15 from the field and had five turnovers during the Mount's 19-4 run. However, Sweetney hit a pair of free throws with 2:54 left and Felder made a layup for a mini 4-0 run to end the run and cut it to 29-18 with 2:28 remaining in the half.

Atupem made a hook shot to give Mount St. Mary's a 31-18 lead, but Saint Francis finished the half strong. Freshman Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) (Newport News, Va. / Denbigh) found Orandi for a 3-pointer in the corner before a hustle play led to another two points before the break. The Red Flash came up with a defensive stop and hustled down the floor where the ball was knocked out of bounds with 0.7 seconds remaining. Hoffman was fouled going for a layup with 0.1 seconds remaining, and he made both free throws to cut the lead to 31-23 at halftime. Over the final 3:10 of the period, SFU outscored the Mount 9-2.

Orandi had a team-high seven points and four rebounds at the break, while Hoffman had four points and five rebounds and Sweetney had four points. However, the Red Flash shot just 24.1 percent from the field (7-of-29) and 22.2 percent from outside the arc (2-of-9).

Mount St. Mary's shot 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the field, and 4-of-7 from long distance (57.1 percent). Atupem and Holland had a game-high eight points each.

Orandi opened the second half scoring with a long two-pointer from the corner before the Mountaineers reeled off four straight points to take a 35-25 lead with 18:12 remaining in the ballgame.

But that's when Saint Francis made its run. Sweetney scored seven points during an 11-3 run, which was capped by a slam dunk by freshman Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) (Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East) to pull the Red Flash within 38-36 with 13:18 to play. However, Mount St. Mary's (14-14, 11-6 NEC) scored the next six points on its way to a 15-2 run that would get the lead back to 15 points, 53-38, with 7:48 to go. The Red Flash wouldn't get any closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Game Notes: There was a 21 minute delay at the beginning of the game as the power in Knott Arena went out just as the teams were ready to tipoff; Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) finished with 1,490 points, just 10 shy of becoming the seventh Red Flash player to score 1,500 career points.