BOX SCORE Postgame Media Conference

LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 3, 2013) – Sophomore Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) turned in a monster game on the boards to earn his second straight double-double and help lead Saint Francis U to a 67-60 Northeast Conference win over Central Connecticut Thursday at DeGol Arena.

Brown dialed up his best Maurice Stokes impersonation by scoring 16 points and pulling down a staggering 25 rebounds.  The total, which matched the most in a Division I game since Dec. 22, 2009, when Kevin Thompson of Morgan State grabbed 25 boards against Towson, was also the second-highest in NEC history.

Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) led SFU (1-11; 1-0) scorers with 19 points while dishing out eight assists.  Dominique Major (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) and Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) each chipped in 12 points for the Red Flash, which did not trail in the second half.

“We had a great talk after our Cornell game and we said that good wasn't good enough,” said Saint Francis head coach Rob Krimmel, who notched his first career win.  “We each have to bring a little bit more to the table.  We defined some roles and talked to Earl a little bit about rebounding and he obviously took to that challenge.  The guys did a great job tonight.”

Kyle Vinales scored 23 points for CCSU (4-8; 0-1), and Matt Hunter had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Saint Francis won the rebound battle 43-33.

The Blue Devils led by as many as seven points in the first half before the Red Flash went on a 16-to-9 run to enter the intermission tied at 27-27.  Shannon capped the drive with a 3-pointer with a second left on the clock.

Brown scored the first six points of the second half to lift the Red Flash to a 33-27 lead 3:13 in. Major's 3-pointer with 12:36 to go established a 43-34 advantage.  Meanwhile, CCSU was held without a field goal for the first 7:28 of the second period.

The Red Flash led 50-39 on Brown's dunk with 8:35 to go, and a jumper by Shannon pushed it to 55-42 with 6:49 left.

“It feels really good [to win],” said Brown before adding: “We're not going to celebrate because we know we have a long road ahead of us.”

Saint Francis welcomes Bryant to Loretto Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.