BOX SCORE
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis University men's basketball team fell to Niagara at DeGol Arena Monday night, 65-63.
The Red Flash (0-6, 0-0) ran out to an early lead but the Purple Eagles (3-3, 0-0) battle back with a strong showing in the second half to claim the victory.
Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) led all scorers with 16 points off the bench and posted a perfect shooting night from behind the 3-point arc. Juan'ya Green led the way for Niagara scoring all of his 14 points in the second half including the game-winning shot with 0.2 left on the clock.
The Red Flash started the game quickly connecting on three of their first four 3-point attempts and ran out to an 11-3 lead. The Red Flash extended their lead with excellent execution in their half-court offense and paired it with solid work on the defensive end forcing the Purple Eagles into eight first half turnovers. SFU took its first half lead to as many as 21 in the first frame. Niagara hit a 3-pointer just before the half to make the score 38-20 at the intermission.
Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ) led the way in the first half with eight points, three rebounds and two assists.
Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) put his distribution skills on display in the first half with a season high five assists.
Niagara stormed out of the gates in the second half with 26-6 run over the first 8:50 of the second half. Scooter Gillette highlighted the run with a block which he turned into a breakaway dunk. The massive run erased the Flashes halftime lead and gave Niagara the lead with more than 10 minutes left in the half. The Purple Eagles also used full court pressure and smothering defense against SFU and allowed them just five shot attempts in the first eight minutes of the second half. The Red Flash finally slowed the Purple Eagles down thanks to a pair of big baskets from
Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy).
The Purple Eagles extended their lead to as many as many as five in the second half but the Red Flash battled back and Ervin tied the game with 10.4 seconds remaining with a jump shot in the lane. However Green's floater ended the hopes of SFU forcing overtime. SFU's last ditch effort to force extra time came with a floor court pass by Whyatt to
Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) but with less than 0.4 left the junior could not get a shot off.
The Red Flash return to action Thursday as they open Northeast Conference play against the Monmouth Hawks in DeGol Arena at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- Red Flash started hot from the field hitting five of their first six shots from the floor enroute to shoot 71.4-percent in the first half and 63.9-percent for the game.
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Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown),
Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy),
Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) and
Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) combined to go 9-of-9 from the field in the first half with a combined 23 points.
- The Red Flash had three players score in double digits against Niagara, two, Ervin and Taylor, off the bench.
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Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ) and
Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) connected scored nine of the Red Flash's first 11 points on 3-point baskets.
- Both teams collected 13 first half rebounds but the Red Flash got the better of the scoring in paint 10-6 in the first frame.
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Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) became first SFU player other than
Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) to score in the second half recording a bucket at the 10:49 mark of the second stanza.
- After the Red Flash took their biggest lead of 21 in the first half Niagara responded with a 27-6 run over the next 8:50 to tie the game.
- The Red Flash bench outscored the Purple Eagles 27-9 led by double-digit performances by Ervin and Taylor.
- Saint Francis has lost all three of its home games this season by three points or less and SFU has had a shot attempt to tie or win the game at the buzzer in all three.
