WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.  (Feb. 17, 2011) – Monmouth's defense stifled the Saint Francis men's basketball team over the final 15 minutes and used a key 9-0 run to take control in handing the Red Flash a 57-51 defeat on Thursday night at the MAC.

Sophomore Tony Peters (Roselle, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) tied the ball game at 33 with a 10-foot jumper with 15:56 to go, but the Hawks went on a 9-0 run and never looked back.

 

Sophomore Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) had a team-high 13 points, while sophomore Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals for SFU.

 

Jesse Steele led all scorer with 20 points and added 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists for Monmouth. Mike Myers Keitt had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

 

Saint Francis will return to action with a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday night at Fairleigh Dickinson. The Red Flash dropped their sixth straight game to fall to 7-19 overall and 5-10 in the Northeast Conference. Monmouth improved to 9-18 overall and 5-10 in the league.

 

“We played hard, but we didn't play smart and we didn't play with a purpose down the stretch,” said Saint Francis head coach Don Friday. “That's unacceptable. It's gut check time for our team. We are in a must win situation now.”

 

SFU had a brief one-point lead early in the first half, but the Hawks led the rest of the way in taking a 23-22 lead into the break.

 

However, Felder completed a 3-point play with 18:11 to go in the second half and, after Shannon made 1-of-2 at the stripe, sophomore Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) hit junior Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown) for a slam dunk as the Red Flash opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 28-25 lead.

 

But Steele was fouled as he made a 3-pointer and completed the rare 4-point play to give the Hawks a 29-28 lead. Felder answered with a 3-pointer to make it 31-29 Saint Francis, but Phil Wait scored four straight points to give Monmouth a 33-31 lead before Peters' jumper made it 33-33.

 

Myers Keitt made 1-of-2 at the free throw line with 14:11 to go, giving the Hawks the lead for good. He followed with a tip-in, Ed Waite hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Steele made another long ball to give Monmouth a 42-34 lead.

 

The Hawks would take their largest lead, 51-40, with 5:32 to go before the Red Flash went on a 10-2 run to pull within 53-50 with 1:03 remaining. Ware hit a big baseline jumper with 35.0 seconds left to give Monmouth a 55-50 lead, and Saint Francis couldn't draw any closer.

 

SFU shot 38.1 percent (16-of-42), while Monmouth shot 37.0 percent (20-of-54) but the Hawks had a 37 to 28 advantage on the boards in the game.

 

SFU got off to a slow offensive start as the Hawks came out and hit four 3-pointers in the first 7:07 to take a 16-7 lead. However, the Red Flash buckled down on defense and held Monmouth to just two field goals and a pair of free throws over the final 12:53 to pull within 23-22 at halftime.

 

Steele led all scorers with 9 points, all on long balls, in the first half and Myers Keitt added 7 points at the break for the Hawks.

 

Shannon paced Saint Francis with 5 points at the break, while Felder and Peters had 4 points each.

 

The Red Flash shot 44.4 percent (8-of-18) in the first half and held Monmouth to 28.6 percent (8-of-28), but the Hawks got 10 extra shots with a 19-11 rebounding edge.

 

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