PITTSBURGH – The Saint Francis men's basketball team led wire-to-wire as it defeated the Duquesne Dukes, 67-52, Wednesday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center. Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) led the Flash with 16 points while Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) pulled down 15 rebounds.

Brown was the centerpiece of early action. He had 10 points in the first 8:18 as the Flash stormed out to a 21-8 lead. Fourteen of those 21 points came in the paint. The dominant inside game extended to rebounding. Saint Francis outrebounded the Dukes, 45-29, with Drinnon accounting for a third of SFU's output on the glass.

Thanks to the combination of timely scoring and strong defense, the Flash led comfortably throughout most of the half. Duquesne pulled the deficit to 24-18 with 8:51 remaining in the first half, but back-to-back three pointers from Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) and Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) pushed the lead back into double digits. The lead grew as large as 16 in the final minute of the first half on Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier)'s three pointer before Duquesne cut the deficit to 40-27 heading into the intermission.

Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) finished the first half with 12 of his 16 points, and he's now just seven shy of becoming the 39^th player in Saint Francis history to reach 1,000 career points. Millaud-Meunier finished with 14 points and three made three pointers. As a team, the Flash shot 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from beyond the arc, just shy of its NEC-leading 37.7 season percentage. It's the fifth time in nine games this season SFU has hit at least eight three pointers.

Both defenses tightened at the beginning of the second half. After shooting 50 percent in the first half, Duquesne held the Flash off the board for the first 4:51 of the second. Two free throws by Derrick Colter cut the lead back to eight at 47-39 with 11:23 to play, but a Millaud-Meunier three pointer and a swooping layup by Whyatt on consecutive possessions pushed the lead back to 13. After a defensive rebound by Drinnon, Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) nailed a three to make it 55-39 with 9:51 to play. The differential never again made it into single digits.

Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) finished with nine points and eight rebounds, while Drinnon came just one point shy of his first double-double of the year. Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) also had two assists and no turnovers to improve upon his NEC-leading assist-to-turnover ratio.

The Flash earned its first win over Duquesne since 1990, snapping Duquesne's 11-game win streak in the series. It's Saint Francis' first win at Duquesne since 1966, breaking a 16-game streak. The 15-point margin of victory is tied for the third largest for the Flash against the Dukes.

Saint Francis continues non-conference action Saturday afternoon at Rutgers. The tip is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.