OPENING TIP
Saint Francis opens its home schedule Monday against the Lafayette Leopards, tipoff is at 7 p.m. The Leopards knockoff the Red Flash in Lafayette a season ago.
FLASH FACTS
- Don Friday is 2-1 in home openers as head coach of the Red Flash winning his last two home openers.
- Saint Francis holds an all-time record of 309-194 (.614) at DeGol Arena and posted a winning record on their home court each of the past two seasons.
- The Red Flash are 0-2 all-time against Lafayette with both losses coming in the past two seasons. The last time the Leopards and came to Loretto, SFU lost 77-88 to Lafayette.
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Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) led all scorers Friday night at VCU with 26, going 7-of-14 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
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Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown) fell just two rebounds and three points short of double-double against the Rams with seven points and team leading eight rebounds.
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Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) collected four rebounds and eight points against VCU while going 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point line and 3-of-5 from the field. While Ervin was on the Floor the Red Flash were +7 against VCU.
- Saint Francis shot 60-percent from the field in the second half against VCU something they have not done since Feb. 19 of last season against Fairleigh Dickinson.
- The Red Flash and Rams played even in the paint with each team scoring 26 points in the free throw lane. VCU took advantage of 20 SFU turnovers and turned them into 26 points.
- When the Flash had its starting five (Eatherton, Johnson, Ervin, Taylor and Shannon) on the floor against VCU the Flash were +3.
LAST TIMEOUT – SFU 57, VCU 63
SFU fell to Virginia Commonwealth in its season opener Friday night, 63-57.
Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) led the Red Flash (0-1, 0-0) with a 26-point effort but it was not enough as the Rams (1-0, 0-0) escaped with the win. Shannon poured in 12 in the second half but an early second half charge was enough for the Rams to hold on to late. The Rams, national semifinalists a season ago, raised their Final Four banner prior to the game.
The first half got off to a slow start with each team fighting for baskets. Saint Francis used a small run to take a 17-15 lead but the Rams caught fire following the third media timeout of the half. VCU used its full court pressure to generate turnovers but the Flash stopped the run and went into the half trailing 36-27. The Rams used full court pressure defense all night following Red Flash made baskets but Saint Francis handled the pressure well with few early giveaways. Shannon led the Red Flash in the first half with 14 while going seven-of-seven from the free throw line. The Flash used the free throw well going 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.
VCU came out of the locker room fast and raced out to a 16-point advantage. Saint Francis refused to go away and slowly crept back into the game. With 2:35 left, the Flash had the VCU lead down to just five. Shannon cut the lead to just three with a 3-point bucket with less than a minute left but the Rams responded with a 3-point bucket of its own to put the game out of reach.
GAME NOTES
- For the game Saint Francis shot 47.6 percent while holding VCU to a 32.8 shooting percentage. At the half the Rams were shooting just 42.3 percent (11-of-26) while the Flash were at 36.4-percent (8-of-22).
- VCU led at the half 36-27 with rebounding even at 17 for each team with both teams having four offensive boards and 13 defensive boards.
- VCU went on an 18-4 run from the 7:26 mark to the 1:48 mark of the first half to open up a 33-21 lead. The run was stopped by a 3-point shot by
Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City).
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Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) fouled out with 8:52 remaining in regulation.
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Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) scored his first college basket in the first half on a 3-point attempt.
- Saint Francis held the Rams to just one field goal of over the first 7:12 of the first half.
- Eatherton recorded the first field goal of the game for the Red Flash at 14:54 of the first half.
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Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ) and
Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) each saw their first college action Friday against Virginia Commonwealth.
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Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) recorded the first points of the season on the free throw line after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.
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Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) won the opening tip for Saint Francis.
SFU PICKED 9TH IN PRESEASON POLL
The Northeast Conference released it preseason coaches' poll Wednesday with Saint Francis picked ninth.
“We have some kids that now have some experience as student-athletes,” head men's basketball coach Don Friday said. “We are going to have to become a better defensive unit and limit people in field goal percentage.”
The Red Flash posted a 7-11 league record last season and a 9-21 overall record. The Flash ranked fourth in field goal percentage a season ago while also ranking third in rebounding defense. The Red Flash return two-time all-conference selection
Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) from a season ago, who ranked sixth in the league in scoring averaging 15.8 points per-game. The Flash also return the Northeast Conference's fourth leading assist man from 2010-11 in
Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh).
Saint Francis will look to improves its defense this season as SFU ranked 12th in the league in field goal defense. The Red Flash feature six new student-athletes and just one senior. John Taylor sits as the only senior on the Red Flash roster and is in just second his second season in Loretto since he earned his associate degree from Montgomery College-Germantown.
2011-12 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
MEN'S BASKETBALL
PRESEASON POLL
1. Long Island (10)
2. Robert Morris (2)
3. Central Connecticut State
4. Wagner
5. Quinnipiac
6. Mount St. Mary's
7. Bryant
8. Sacred Heart
9. Saint Francis (PA)
10. Monmouth
11. St. Francis (NY)
12. Fairleigh Dickinson
2011-12 Northeast Conference
Men's Basketball Preseason
All-Conference Team
Julian Boyd, Jr, F, Long Island
Ken Horton, Sr, F, Central Connecticut State
James Johnson, Sr, G, Quinnipiac
Tyler Murray, Sr, G, Wagner
Jamal Olasewere, Jr, F, Long Island
UP NEXT
The Red Flash return to the road Saturday as they travel to instate conference rival Bucknell for a 7 p.m. tip.
