LORETTO, Pa. – Five players scored in double figures for the Saint Francis men's basketball team as it defeated Lehigh, 84-73, Wednesday night at DeGol Arena. The win is the second for the Flash against the Patriot League this year, and it gives SFU a 3-0 start at home for the second straight season.
 
Lehigh led in the game for 4:21, and the Flash took the lead for good on the strength of an 8-0 run that began with a Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) three pointer with 5:20 to play to give SFU a 30-29 lead. That shot ended a 9-0 Lehigh run that catapulted the Mountain Hawks to a 29-27 lead. After a Lehigh offensive foul, freshman Josh Nebo (Katy, Texas/Cypress Lakes) scored a layup on an assist from Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) to make it 32-29. On the Mountain Hawks' next trip down the floor, Nebo rejected a shot from Tim Kempton that enabled the Flash to run in transition. Brown found Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) for a three pointer to give the Flash a 35-29 lead with 4:07 left in the first half.
 
"Basketball is a game of runs," senior forward Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) said. "It's just about playing level the whole game. We do a great job as a team of staying level." 
 
The teams traded buckets in the final minutes of the first half, but Lehigh couldn't get back on top. The Flash took a 41-36 lead into the intermission with a Nebo layup and two Drinnon free throws in the final minute. Millaud-Meunier scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the first half.
 
Harmon scored five of the Flash first seven points of the second half, and his three pointer with 16:30 to play gave the Flash its first double-digit lead, 48-38, with 16:30 to play. Lehigh didn't go away, though. It chipped its deficit back to four points on a Kahron Ross layup with 13:04 left.
 
A pair of Flash freshmen helped SFU get its lead back into a comfortable place. Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) hit a three pointer to make it 64-56 with 9:47 to play. Nebo hit a layup two minutes later to push the lead to 10, and Blackmon came back on the fast break with a pretty reverse layup to push the lead to its biggest of the game, 68-56. Nebo finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Blackmon scored 16 points while adding four rebounds and four steals.
 
"Those guys, in particular, have really done a good job early in the year, establishing themselves as guys we can go to," head coach Rob Krimmel said. "Isaiah gave us great minutes in his first career start on Friday and played well again today coming off the bench.  I think his biggest strength, and really both kids, is they don't get too high or too low. Both kids are very coachable."
 
Harmon finished with 17 points, including making all eight of his free throw attempts. Saint Francis went 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) from the foul line. Drinnon filled the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Brown just missed becoming the sixth player in double figures as he finished with nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
 
The win for the Flash is the second this season against a Patriot League opponent after defeating American in November. The win also snaps a nine-game win streak for Lehigh in the series.
 
The Red Flash now moves on to face No. 2 Maryland on Friday night in College Park. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network beginning at 7 p.m.
 
"It's always a good opportunity to play a team as talented as Maryland," Drinnon said. "The thing is, we have to go in there, play together, defend and limit their second chances on the offensive glass. We're going to go in and give them our all."