BOX SCORE Loretto, Pa. - Junior Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) hit a game-tying three-pointer with four seconds to play to send the game to overtime then sophomore Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) scored 11 of his 23 points in the extra stanza as the Saint Francis men's basketball team (15-11, 9-6 NEC) held off a pesky CCSU (12-16, 5-10 NEC) team 77-71 to clinch a playoff berth for the fifth consecutive season.

Krimmel's Reaction

At the half, I thought we were well on our way to duplicating our effort from last Saturday in terms of energy and focus on the defensive end," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "We took our foot off the gas in the second half and they made us pay. Fortunately, we were able to stick together and regain our effort and energy down the stretch and it led to a big win.

Turning Point

Saint Francis led 43-29 with 15:09 to play before the Blue Devils reeled off a 21-2 run to take a 50-45 lead with 9:45 remaining. Saint Francis trailed 61-56 with 2:48 remaining before holding CCSU scoreless over its final four possessions. Two Braxton free throws made it a one possession game and King hit the running three in crunch time despite a defender glued to his right hip. The Red Flash held CCSU to 3-of-10 shooting in the overtime and scored 13 of its 16 points from the foul line, the lone exception a Braxton three to give SFU a 66-65 lead.

Inside the Box Score

• The Red Flash had an uncharacteristically cold shooting night, converting just 21 of its 53 (39.6%) field goals. CCSU shot 27-of-62 (43.5%) from the field.
• SFU hit 9-of-22 (40.9%) three-pointers while CCSU made 8-of-21 (38.1%) from behind the arc.
• SFU was 26-of-32 (81.3%) from the foul line to 9-of-13 (69.2%) for CCSU.
• CCSU edged the Red Flash in rebounds, 37-36.
• Points in the paint favored the Blue Devils 28-22.

Notes

• It was the fifth time this season that King and Braxton have each gone for 20+ points in the same game.
• Junior Andre Wolford (Willowick, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) joined them in double figures with 10 points while junior Scott Meredith (Pilot Mountain, N.C./Hargrave Military Academy (Va.)) added nine on 3-3 from three-point range. Freshman Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) added six points and eight rebounds.
• CCSU shot itself back into the game in the second half by going 14-of-25 (56.0%) from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point range.
• Saint Francis moved to 9-2 at DeGol Arena.
• The Red Flash currently sit in a four-way tie for second place with Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris and St. Francis Brooklyn. SFU is 3-2 against those teams this season.
• The score was tied nine times and the lead changed hands 11 times.

Up Next

SFU will honor seniors Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King), Daniel Wallace (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond River) and Deon Baker (Pittsburgh,Pa/Gateway) when it takes on Bryant on Saturday at 1 p.m. The group has won 61 games over the last four seasons, the most by an SFU class since the graduating class of '93.