LORETTO, Pa. – With about one minute left in the Saint Francis men's basketball team's battle with Northeast Conference and western Pennsylvania foe Robert Morris, the Red Flash had the ball up by a single point, 58-57.
 
The Flash had stormed out to a 28-10 lead less than 11 minutes into Monday night's game at DeGol Arena, but the Colonials stormed all the way back to tie the score on three separate occasions in the second half. If this Red Flash possession came up empty, Robert Morris would have a chance to take the lead with precious few possessions remaining. That's when senior forward Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) locked onto head coach Rob Krimmel.
 
"He just gave me the eyes." The look from his coach said it all for Brown. He knew that it was his time to break the 14-game stranglehold the Colonials had over the Red Flash for more than seven years. Brown took the ball on the left side, backed down his defender, and finished with a power move and a layup to give the Flash a 60-57 lead that it wouldn't relinquish.
 
The Flash (8-5, 2-0) was on fire as it looked to move to 2-0 in NEC play for the first time in three years while also looking to defeat the Colonials for the first time since 2007. Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ) hit his third three pointer with 14:14 remaining in the first half to stake the Flash to a 15-4 lead. Dominique Major (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) hit from downtown with 12:29 to play to extend the lead to 20-6. After two jumpers from Robert Morris, the Flash scored the next eight points – five from Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) - to make it 28-10 with 9:09 to play in the half.
 
Robert Morris (5-9, 1-1) regained its footing at that point. The Colonials scored the next 12 points as they held the Flash to just one made field goal for the rest of the half. Stephan Bennett scored four points in the final minute to send the teams to the locker rooms with the Flash holding a 31-26 lead.
 
In the second half, the Flash lead shifted constantly from a one-possession advantage to two without the lead ever growing larger than six points until the final minute. Robert Morris finally pulled even for the first time on a Rodney Pryor steal and layup with 14:08 to play. The Colonials managed to match the Flash two more times over the next five minutes, but Millaud-Meunier's second three pointer of the game put the Flash ahead for good, 52-49, with 9:19 to play.
 
Kavon Stewart went to the line with 1:35 to play with a chance to tie the score, but he missed the back end of his two shots to leave the Flash ahead, 58-57. The Colonials got the offensive board, but Stewart missed on a three to give the Flash the ball and to set up Brown's key bucket with just under a minute to play.
 
Four Flash players scored in double figures, led by Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview)'s 19. He scored 13 of those points in the second half as the Flash were successful in holding off the Colonials. He also had eight rebounds. Millaud-Meunier scored 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench, while Brown also had 14 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and four steals. The four steals ties his career high. Jackson had all 10 of his points in the first half as he paced the Flash to its large lead. He also tied his career high with seven rebounds.
 
SFU held Robert Morris to just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc and 44.9 percent from the field. The Flash made seven three pointers, including five in the first half.

Saint Francis hits the road for its next two games. First up is an NEC quarterfinal rematch from a year ago at Bryant. Tipoff on Thursday is set for 7:00 p.m.