Moon Township, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team (20-9, 13-5 NEC) nearly pulled out another improbable second half comeback, but was thwarted off by the Robert Morris Colonials (17-14, 13-5 NEC) in a 78-68 loss. Senior Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea) was spectacular in defeat, recording 24 points and 12 rebounds to become the first player in Northeast Conference history and the second in Saint Francis history (alongside Maurice Stokes) to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

With the result, Robert Morris secured the No. 1 overall seed in the NEC Tournament. The Red Flash will enter as the two seed.

Krimmel's Reaction

"You have to give a ton of credit to Andy (Toole) and his staff," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "They had a week to prepare and executed a great game plan. I am proud that we kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance to win at the under-four media timeout. We will regroup and be ready for the NEC Quarterfinal on Wednesday."

How It Happened

The Colonials penetrated the Saint Francis zone early and it led to open looks, which were converted to points. The Colonials hit eight threes in the first half and shot 52.9% from the field compared to just 36.4% for Saint Francis for a 45-35 halftime lead. The first 10 minutes of the second half was much of the same story as Robert Morris built a 16-point lead with 9:37 remaining.

That's when Braxton began to take over, scoring four straight points and setting up senior Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) for a dunk to cut the deficit to 61-50 with 8:07 to go. A quick 6-0 run, capped by a Braxton corner three, cut it to five, and a driving layup by junior Ramiir Dixon-Conover (Newark, N.J./South Kent) trimmed it to 67-63 with 4:04 to go. 

Robert Morris answered with one of its 10 threes on the next possession and then hurt the Red Flash from the free throw line the rest of the way for the win.

Inside the Box Score

• The Colonials finished 27-53 (50.9%) from the field to SFU's 22-57 (38.6%).
• Robert Morris went 10-23 (43.5%) from three and held Saint Francis to 5-21 (23.8%).
• SFU was 19-27 (70.4%) from the free throw line to RMU's 14-21 (66.7%).
• SFU held a 37-33 advantage on the glass with 16 offensive rebounds.
• Second chance points were 18-10 for Saint Francis.

Notes

• Braxton becomes the third player in school history to reach 2,000 career points, joining Joe Anderson and Stokes, and just the seventh in Northeast Conference history.
• Blackmon chipped in with 21 points to secure the NEC scoring title at 21.6 ppg. He also passed Sandy Williams for sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list.
• Sophomore Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J./Camden) added 10 points and seven rebounds, but SFU only received nine points from its bench.
• SFU finishes the regular-season 13-5, tied for the most conference wins in program history. 
• With the loss, the Red Flash saw its eight game overall win streak and nine-game win streak vs. the Colonials snapped.

Up Next

The second-seeded Red Flash will host No. 7 Bryant (15-16, 7-11 NEC) on Wednesday, Mar. 4, in a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Saint Francis went 1-1 vs. the Bulldogs this season and are 3-0 vs. Bryant in the playoffs.