BOX SCORE Blacksburg, Va. -  The Saint Francis men's basketball team (1-4) closed out a three-game stretch vs. ranked opponents with a 75-37 loss at No. 13 Virginia Tech (5-0) on Saturday.

Krimmel's Reaction 

"It's been a difficult stretch for us but we knew it would be going in," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "We let the game get away from us towards the end of the first half and early into the second half and didn't do a good enough job executing our offense. Credit to Virginia Tech for forcing us into mistakes. When you play a team like that, you have to take care of the basketball and make open shots and we weren't able to do either of those things."

Turning Point

As has been the case in its last three ballgames, Saint Francis struggled to close out the first half. The Hokies reeled off a 10-2 run over the final 2:21 to turn a 23-20 lead into a 33-22 advantage at the break. The Hokies then knocked down its first three three-pointers of the second half and five of its first six shots to build a comfortable second half lead.

First Half Summary

Saint Francis turned in an impressive defensive performance over the first 20 minutes, holding the Hokies to 12-29 (41.4%) from the field. SFU was tenacious on the glass outrebounding Virginia Tech 23-13 for the half but was undone by 14 turnovers, the most in any half all season. Freshman Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J./Camden) kept SFU in the game with 10 first half points.

Second Half Summary

Virginia Tech stormed out of the gates with nine of the first 11 points in the half and didn't look back, shooting 15-28 (53.6%).from the field and 8-14 (57.1%) from three-point range in the half. SFU mde just 6 of its 29 shots (20.7%) shots and was 0-11 from three-point range.

Inside The Box Score

• Virginia Tech finished 27-57 (47.4%) from the field and 14-31 (45.2%) from three-point range.
• Saint Francis shot a season-worst 15-58 (25.9%) from the field and 4-22 (18.2%) from behind the arc. 
• The Red Flash got to the line just three times, making all of its attempts while Virginia Tech was 7-9 (77.8%).
• SFU won the battle on the boards, 37-35.

Notes

• SFU was held under 50 points for the first time since scoring 48 at St. Francis Brooklyn on Mar. 7, 2015. The 37 total points was its lowest scoring output since scoring 37 at Cincinnatti on Nov. 14, 2014.
• Thompson led SFU in scoring with 14 points to go along with six rebounds. 
• Junior Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea) added eight points and five rebounds.
• SFU's 22 turnovers were a season-high.

Up Next

Saint Francis returns home to take on Bloomsburg on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 6 p.m.