LORETTO, Pa.  (Feb. 12, 2011) – Robert Morris used a 6-0 run midway through the second half to take a double digit lead and held off the Saint Francis men's basketball team, 78-73, in front of a televised audience on Saturday night at DeGol Arena.

 

Sophomore Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, and had career highs with 10 field goals, 19 field goal attempts and five 3-pointers. He has recorded seven 20-plus point performances in his last nine games. Sophomores Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) (13) and Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) (12) and junior Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown) (10) all reached double digits in scoring for the Red Flash.

 

Velton Jones paced the Colonials with 15 points, 6 assists and 4 steals, while Russell Johnson and Lijah Thompson added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

 

SFU dropped its fifth straight game to fall to 7-18 overall, and 5-9 in the Northeast Conference. Robert Morris improved to 12-13 overall, and 8-6 in the league. The Red Flash will return to action with a 7:45 p.m. tipoff on Thursday night at Monmouth.

 

“This is another one that stings,” said Saint Francis head coach Don Friday. “We executed better tonight than we did on Wednesday against Robert Morris. But they made a few tougher plays than we did. Bottom line is that we have a four-game playoff now to try to get into the NEC Tournament.”

 

SFU shot 54.3 percent (25-of-46) from the field, but struggled at the free throw line (.615, 16-of-26). The Colonials shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the field and converted 13 Red Flash turnovers into 21 points.

 

The first half was a see-saw affair with eight ties and six lead changes. Saint Francis led 6-4 when RMU reeled off a 12-0 run. But the Red Flash responded with a 12-0 run of their own to take an 18-16 lead with 8:32 remaining. The teams traded buckets over the next five minutes before the Colonials broke a 25-25 tie with a 7-0 run. They went into halftime with a 35-32 lead.

 

Saint Francis scored the first four points of the second half on layups by Taylor and Johnson, respectively, to take a 36-35 lead. However, Lawrence Bridges hit back-to-back buckets to give Robert Morris the lead for good.

 

The Colonials built their lead to as many as 13, 67-54, with 5:37 to play before the Red Flash started to chip away. Shannon scored 11 points in the final 5:12 to get SFU as close as four, 75-71, with 27 seconds remaining. However, RMU made 3-of-4 free throws to seal the win.

 

Sophomore Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals for Saint Francis. His 2 blocks moved him into a tie for 10^th place on SFU's all-time blocks list. Felder tied Bassirou Dieng with 58 career blocks. Johnson had 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals with his 13 points, Ervin added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, and Taylor had 6 rebounds.

 

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