LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team put together a convincing, wire-to-wire victory over American on Saturday night at DeGol Arena. The Red Flash led from the opening bucket until the final buzzer in a 68-48 victory, and SFU held a 37-12 lead at halftime.
 
The key stretch came over the course nearly 11 ½ minutes in the first half when the Flash outscored American, 23-0. After jumping out to an 8-0 lead, American (0-3) came back with eight of the next 10 points to make it 10-8 Flash following a three-point play by Jesse Reed with 14:40 to play in the first half. That layup by Reed would be one of just four field goals for the Eagles in the first half.
 
SFU took advantage of its strong defense and poor shooting by American by scoring the next 23 points. Ifeanyi Umezurike (Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria/Montverde Academy) and Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) highlighted the run by combining for 19 of the 23 points on that run. Umezurike scored seven of the points on three field goals that included two dunks. Millaud-Meunier, fresh off a career-high 32 points in Tuesday's win against Westminster, scored 12 points on four field goals and two free throws. Umezurike finished with those seven points and nine rebounds in just nine minutes of action off the bench. Millaud-Meunier led all scorers with 19 points while tying his career-high in rebounds for the second consecutive game with six.
 
During that stretch, the Red Flash defense forced American into 14 consecutive trips without points. In the first half, American shot just 18.2 percent from the field as it went 4-for-22 from the floor and 1-for-12 from three-point range. The Flash outrebounded American, 20-12, in the first half and 43-27 for the game. After Umezurike's nine boards, Josh Nebo (Katy, Texas/Cypress Lakes) (8) and Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) (7) each flirted with double-digit efforts on the glass. Nebo also finished with his first double-digit scoring game with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
 
Saint Francis (2-1) extended its lead to a game-high 32 points with 15:05 to play on a free throw by Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King). SFU had six players score at least seven points. Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) and Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) joined Umezurike with seven apiece. With SFU's 20-point victory, the Red Flash has won consecutive games by 20-plus points for the first time since the first two games of the 2006-07 season. Saint Francis opened that season with wins over Lock Haven (94-60) and Saint Bonaventure (76-54).
 
The Red Flash will look for its third win in November for the second consecutive season on Tuesday night at Kent State.