LORETTO, Pa. – "Big-time players make big shots." That quote came from Saint Francis senior forward Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) after his buzzer beater defeated Sacred Heart, 79-78, Friday night at DeGol Arena.
 
Brown was the focal point of the Flash's late-game offense. With the scored tied at 76 with just under 20 seconds remaining, the Flash went to Brown in the low post. Brown spun into the lane and was fouled with a bump to the face. With eyes watering, Brown made the second shot to give the Flash a one-point lead with 14 seconds to play. After a Sacred Heart timeout, the Pioneers used a lob on its inbound play from under the basket. Jordan Allen's short jumper was good, and Sacred Heart had a 78-77 lead with 7.4 seconds remaining.
 
The Flash decided not to call a timeout, and Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) sprinted the length of the floor and into the paint. His layup was short, but Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) found the loose ball and made one of those "big shots" as he laid it in just before time expired.
 
Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) finished with nine points, his first non-double digit scoring effort in 12 games, dating back to a loss at Texas in November. But he had plenty of his help from his friends as the Flash came out on fire as it built a lead that reached as high as 20 in the first half.
 
Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had one of the highlights of the night, taking a Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) lob for a thundering alley-oop to tie the score at 14 in the early going. A Pioneer free throw tied the score at 18 with 11:32 to play, but the Flash dominated the first half from there.
 
Stephon Whyatt (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) hit a three pointer to give the Flash the lead. After a Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) jumper, Dominique Major (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) converted the rare four-point play to cap a 9-0 spurt in just 1:03. That run spearheaded an eight-minute stretch in which the Flash outscored Sacred Heart, 26-6.
 
During that longer run, Whyatt scored eight of his 10 points. Millaud-Meunier also scored all eight of his points, including a three pointer with 5:00 remaining to give SFU a 42-24 lead. The Flash made seven three pointers in the first half as it staked itself to a 49-32 halftime lead. Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) nearly had a double-double in the first half alone with seven points and nine rebounds. He easily cleared that mark in the second half, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
 
The Flash hot streak cooled considerably as the second half began. Sacred Heart (7-11, 1-4) cut the lead to single digits less than six minutes into the half as part of a 22-10 run over the first eight minutes of the second.
 
The teams traded baskets until the Pioneers finally pulled even on a De'Von Barnett jumper with 6:09 left to tie the score at 68-68. Cane Broome hit a three pointer to give Sacred Heart its first lead since the early going at 71-70.
 
Back and forth the teams went. Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) scored four points down the stretch. He finished with a season-high 14 points. His final basket gave the Flash a 76-73 lead with 1:35 to play, but SHU's Phil Gaetano drained a three from the right wing to even the score with 38 seconds remaining. That set up the exciting final sequence.
 
With the win, the Flash moved to 6-0 at home for the first time since the 2003-04 season. SFU is also 4-1 in NEC play for the first time since 1997-98. Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ), the league's leading three-point shooter, made two of his three attempts from downtown and finished with 10 points. Major finished with seven points off the bench.
 
The Flash returns to action at DeGol Arena on Sunday afternoon with a big test against St. Francis Brooklyn. Action begins at 2:00 p.m. The Flash and Terriers are tied with Bryant for first place in the NEC, all with 4-1 conference records.