POSTGAME - BOX SCORE - HIGHLIGHTS

LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 9, 2012) – The Saint Francis University men's basketball team rallied late but could not complete the comeback against Robert Morris falling, 78-74.
 
The Red Flash (5-19, 4-7) cut an 11 point second half Colonial (18-8, 9-4) lead down to just two but could not complete the comeback. Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) tallied 20 point for the Red Flash to lead all scorers and Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) added 15 but it could not overcome RMU's balanced attack. Seven different Colonials tallied six or more points led by Lucky Jones and Mike McFadden, who each racked up 14.   
 
The two teams went right at other from the tip with Colonials playing tough inside and the Red Flash countering with excellent offensive execution and lights out shooting. Saint Francis connected on 12 of its first 16 field goal attempts. The game stayed within a three point window until Storm Stanley (Lambertville, Mich./St. Francis de Sales) came off the bench for the Red Flash and tallied six consecutive points. The effort from the Red Flash reserve fueled the SFU starters and Whyatt rolled off six consecutive points with a corner 3-pointer and a traditional three-point play, on a breakaway layup. The Colonials chipped into the nine-point SFU advantage and scored the final bucket of the half to cut the intermission advantage to 35-30 in favor of the Red Flash.
 
The Colonials started the second half strong and evened the score 41 at the 15:34 mark. Robert Morris used tough defense to generate turnovers and easy baskets as RMU opened the half on a 24-10 run. The run turned the SFU halftime lead into a 54-45 Red Flash deficit by the 12:11 mark of the second stanza. The Colonial run generated easy looks and helped RMU connect of 10 of its first 13 shots in the second half.  Ervin cut into the RMU lead with a pair of three-point plays the first coming with a deep corner shot and the second on a traditional, bucket and a foul. The Colonials responded with excellent 3-point shooting from Coron Williams, who went 3-of-5 from the 3-point arc for the game. The Colonials paid the price for their quick pace and pressure with foul trouble and had SFU in the double bonus with four and half minutes to play.
 
Whyatt cut the Colonial lead to just four points with 2:58 remaining in regulation. The Red Flash cut the Colonial lead down to just two with 1:25 to play when Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) tallied a layup to make the score 70-72 in favor of RMU but that would be as close as SFU would get. Despite going just 15-of-23 from the line RMU sealed the game at the free throw scoring their final six points from the charity stripe.   
 
The Red Flash and Colonials continue NEC rivalry week Saturday with a 7 p.m. tipoff in Moon Township.  
 
GAME NOTES
- Saint Francis shot 68.4-percent in the first half missing just six shots from the field for the game the Red Flash shot 61.5 percent from the its second best shooting performance of the season.
 
- As a unit, the SFU bench shot 7-of-9 from the field led by Tony Peters (Roselle, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) who tallied a NEC single-game high of nine points.
 
- Kameron Ritter tallied a career-high nine rebounds and posted just two turnovers against RMU's Velton Jones.
 
- Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) posted a career-high 15 points and added five assists and five rebounds in one of his best performance in his rookie season.  
 
- In the first half the two teams combined for just 20 rebounds with the only two offensive rebounds going to the Colonials.
 
- Storm Stanley (Lambertville, Mich./St. Francis de Sales) tallied a career-high six points in just four minutes of action in the first half.
 
- Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown) suited up for the first time in three games for the Red Flash.
 
- The start of the game was delay 25 minutes due to a malfunction with one of the hoops.