Moon Township, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team (9-11, 5-4 NEC) ran its win streak over in-state rival Robert Morris to seven games with a gritty 76-73 road victory over the first-place Colonials (12-10, 7-2 NEC) on Thursday night. Senior
Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) paced Saint Francis with 23 points while the Red Flash also received 20 points from redshirt junior
Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) and 19 from junior
Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea).
Krimmel's Reaction
"Our trainer Rich Bertie shared an excellent article about body language with our guys and I thought we were fantastic with it tonight," said head coach
Rob Krimmel. "Robert Morris jumped on us early and built a lead but our guys didn't hang their heads and got back in the game with a run at the end of the half. Credit Robert Morris because they kept coming at us in the second half but our guys stayed together and gutted it out in a really tough atmosphere."
Turning Point
Saint Francis was able to dig itself out of a 14-point hole for the second straight game. The Red Flash trailed 34-20 with 4:42 left in the half before closing on a 21-5 run. Saint Francis scored the final seven points of the half over the final 30 seconds with a pair of Braxton free throws, a King three and a Blackmon layup doing the damage to give SFU a 41-39 halftime lead.
First Half Summary
Saint Francis weathered Robert Morris's hot start thanks to the hot shooting of Blackmon. The Charlotte, N.C. native made 5-of-6 field goals and all three of his three-pointers in a 13 point first half. Saint Francis connected on 6-of-9 three-pointers in the half and forced the Colonials into eight turnovers.
Second Half Summary
The Red Flash opened the second half on a 13-4 run to jump ahead 54-43 at the 17:31 mark of the second half. Braxton scored seven of his 19 points during the run as SFU extended its run to 34-9 since the 4:42 mark of the first half. Robert Morris fought all the way back behind a 24-point effort from senior Matty McConnell, who eclipsed 1,000 career points on the night. A McConnell free throw tied the game at 65-65 with 9:14 and set up a thrilling finish. Leading 68-67, SFU got key buckets from King and sophomore
Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) to push the lead to 72-68 with 4:12 remaining. McConnell had a chance to tie at the line down 74-72 with 1:16 to play but was only able to hit one of two free throws. King turned it over on the next possession but McConnell missed two more free throws on the other end. Robert Morris got the ball once more with 12 seconds to play but sophomore Randall Gaskins Jr. played tenacious defense to force an errant RMU pass and turnover. Blackmon converted two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to push the lead to three and then Flagg stole the inbound to finish off the win.
Inside the Box Score
- Saint Francis went 27-51 (52.9%) from the field while the Colonials made 24-54 (44.4%) from the field.
- SFU finished 8-16 (50.0%) from behind the arc to 8-23 (34.8%) from RMU.
- The Red Flash made 7-10 (70.0%) free throws while the Colonials hit 17-26 (65.4%).
- Robert Morris edged SFU in rebounds 31-30 with 14 offensive boards.
- SFU turned 15 RMU turnovers into 26 points, holding a 26-15 advantage for the game.
- SFU outscored the Colonials 34-30 in the paint.
- Saint Francis was great in transition, outscoring Robert Morris 29-5 in fast break points.
Notes
- Saint Francis freshman Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J./Camden) and Robert Morris junior Yannis Mendy were ejected for their involvement in an altercation at the end of the half.
- King's 23 points were his most since scoring 25 in the conference-opening win over Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 3. He also added five steals and four assists.
- Braxton finished with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists.
- Blackmon added five rebounds to go with his 20 points.
- Senior Luidgy Laporal (Petit-Boutg, France/Harcum C.C.) added seven points and Flagg chipped in with five points and seven rebounds from the five position.
- Saint Francis ties a season-long win streak at just two games. The Red Flash were previously 1-6 in games following a loss.
- Saint Francis is now 9-5 when scoring 70 or more points and 0-6 when held under 70. The 76 points vs. Robert Morris's top-ranked defense were the second-most allowed in nine conference games.
- SFU is 8-1 when shooting a higher field goal pct. than its opponent.
- The Red Flash improve to 5-4 in NEC play which currently sits in a five-way tie for second place, two games behind Robert Morris.
Up Next
Saint Francis will try to run it win streak to three games on Saturday at Mount St. Mary's at 4 p.m.
