BOX SCORE    POSTGAME WITH DON FRIDAY

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

LORETTO, Pa. (Dec. 1, 2011) – The Saint Francis University men's basketball team opened Northeast Conference play Thursday with a win against Monmouth in DeGol Arena, 71-49.
 
The Red Flash (1-6, 1-0) used hot shooting and strong defense to knockoff the Hawks (0-7, 0-1) to start conference play. Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) led the way for Saint Francis with another great shooting night going 6-of-7 from the field to total 16 points while also pulling down seven rebounds. SFU kept its opponent from boasting a double-digit scorer for the first time this season with Dion Nesmith and Mike Myers Keitt leading the way for Monmouth each with nine. Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) provided a spark off the bench for SFU with his second double-digit scoring game as a reserve and racked up 13 points.
 
Saint Francis once again stormed out of the locker room hot and shot over 60-percent in the first half against Monmouth but SFU combined its hot shooting with excellent defense. The Red Flash held the Hawks to 33.3-percent shooting in the first frame by using various defensive looks. Saint Francis opened the game on a 30-16 run over the first 14:59. Ervin led the way in the first frame with another big performance off the bench making his first five shots from the field and picked up an “and one” to total 11 first half points.
 
There would be no second half charge from Monmouth as SFU continued to pressure defensively and held the Hawks to just 40-percent shooting in the second half. The Red Flash cooled off from the field a bit but still shot over 50-percent in the second stanza. Eatherton turned up his offensive game in the second half with 11 points while Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) quietly posted seven second half points and four assists. The Red Flash won the game in the second half with rebounds besting the Hawks on the glass 19-10 in the second.
 
Saint Francis returns to action Saturday as the men's and women's teams' host a doubleheader with Fairleigh Dickinson. The men's game is set to tip at 7 p.m.
 

GAME NOTES
Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) opened up scoring at 19:53 of the first half, scoring draught for both teams until Monmouth got even at 17:30.
 
Saint Francis hit its first four free throws of the game and five of its first six enroute to a 70-percent free-throw shooting night.
 
Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown) continued his strong play from off the bench, hitting his first shot of the game and finishing with nine points. The senior has posted nine or more points off the bench in his last three games.
 
Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) posted a 6-of-7 shooting night from the field, shockingly lowering his home field goal percentage to 89.2-percent.  
 
Eatherton also posted a single game career-high in rebounds with seven, besting his previous mark of five.
 
Saint Francis hit 70-percent of their shots from the field in the first half and held the Hawks to a 33.3-percent mark. For the game, the Flash shot 60.5-percent from the field while holding Monmouth to a 36.5 conversion rate. 
 
Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) ended the game making seven consecutive shots. He has now made 11 of his last 12 attempts from off the bench. The junior has also tallied back-to-back game of double digit off the bench.
 
Second time under head coach Don Friday that the Red Flash have started 1-0 in NEC play.
 
As a team, the Flash collected 33 rebounds, which ties their season-high with the opener at Virginia Commonwealth. The 10 steals for SFU tied its season-high matching the total against Colgate.