BOX SCORE SMITHFIELD, R.I. (Jan. 9, 2014) – Saint Francis U opened its Northeast Conference schedule with the offensive production coach Rob Krimmel had been expecting all season.

In an ironic twist, however, The Red Flash's biggest strength this season was its undoing as it fell to Bryant 77-67 Thursday evening.

Saint Francis – which entered the game with the fourth-fewest turnovers in the NCAA – tied its season high with 17.  The Bulldogs converted those miscues into 24 points to improve to 9-7 (1-0) and 6-1 at home.

"We finally shot the ball well," Krimmel said of his squad's 47% performance from the field.  "I thought that would be a strength of ours going into the year and we're finally starting to get into a rhythm and play with confidence.  As a group, though, we've got to mature."

The experience differential between Bryant, which was picked to finish second in the NEC's preseason poll, and the youthful Frankies was most evident in the first half.  The Bulldogs opened up a 19-point lead by the 6:40 mark and went into the intermission with a 44-27 edge.

Saint Francis opened the second half with a 9-to-2 run to close the margin to 10 points less than four minutes into the frame.  The Red Flash (2-12) went 10 of 17 from 3-point range and outscored Bryant 40-33 in the second half, but couldn't challenge to closer than a 9-point deficit.

Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double in seven games, while Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ) and Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) both scored 13 for Saint Francis.

Alex Francis scored 23 to lead the Bulldogs.

"We've got to turn it on from the start and not dig ourselves a hole like we did tonight with turnovers," said Krimmel.  "When we give ourselves chances to shoot the basketball, and continue to shoot well and limit turnovers, we'll be right where we need to be."