FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A 19-0 second-half run allowed the Saint Francis men's basketball team to pull away after a back-and-forth first half, as the Red Flash opened a two-game series at Sacred Heart with a 76-58 victory Thursday night.
 
Freshman Maxwell Land led the Red Flash with 14 points, senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover added 12, and redshirt sophomore Bryce Laskey chipped in 11. Redshirt freshman Josh Cohen contributed his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Shortly after Sacred Heart took its first lead of the second half at 46-45, the teams were tied at 48 before Saint Francis rattled off the next 19 points over a stretch of seven minutes. The second-half run followed a first half in which the Red Flash and Pioneers exchanged the lead 13 times.
 
Saint Francis 76, Sacred Heart 58
Records: Saint Francis (3-7, 2-4), Sacred Heart (4-5, 4-4)
Location: Pitt Center (Fairfield, Conn.)
 
COACH KRIMMEL'S COMMENTS
"I thought it was a great team win. We got contributions from a lot of guys. We got off to a good start in the first half, and how we finished that half was an important step for us. In the second half, I called a timeout, because we had just given up a four-point play and I was a little concerned with our guys' body language … I wanted to make sure our guys understood there was a lot of basketball left. We ran into some foul trouble, but I thought we got some great lifts when we changed the lineup a bit in the second half. I thought we really took a step tonight as a team."
 
KEY MOMENT

• The game was tied at 48 before Saint Francis erupted for a 19-0 run, holding Sacred Heart off the board for 7:02 of the second half.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Sacred Heart scored the first six points of the game, but a steal and dunk from Land kicked off an 8-0 run to move the Red Flash ahead 8-6 five minutes into the contest.
• The first half featured 13 lead changes, with the final one of the stanza helped by a 6-0 run with three points each from Cohen and Land to put the Red Flash ahead 33-28 with 1:40 to play before halftime.
• A three-pointer from redshirt freshman Luke Ruggery beat the halftime buzzer and gave the Red Flash a 38-32 advantage at the break. Eight SFU players scored in the opening 20 minutes as the Red Flash shot 57.7% from the field.
• Saint Francis led for the first six minutes of the second half before a Sacred Heart basket put the hosts in front 46-45 with 13:53 remaining.
• The Red Flash responded with an 8-2 stretch with threes from Dixon-Conover and Laskey to go ahead 53-48 with 10:40 to play.
• Five more points from SFU with another Dixon-Conover three prompted a Pioneer timeout at 58-48 with 8:44 to play. The Red Flash would score nine more after the stoppage to complete a 19-0 Saint Francis run.
• The Red Flash lead would balloon to 72-50 on a Laskey three with 3:18 to play and Saint Francis would stay in front by at least 18 for the remainder of the contest.

STATS

• Land was 6-of-10 from the field and made both of his three-point attempts. He is shooting 50% from the field this season and 57.1% from three.
• Dixon-Conover added six rebounds and five assists.
• Laskey's 11 points were scored in 19 minutes of action.
• Cohen's 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 20 minutes played were career highs. The forward from New Jersey tallied nine points and eight rebounds over 18 minutes last Friday against Bryant.
• Freshman Ronell Giles, Jr. contributed 33 minutes off the bench, collecting six points and career-highs of six rebounds and five assists.
• Saint Francis shot a season-best 50.9% from the field, one-tenth of a percent better than its performance Jan. 7 at LIU.
• The Red Flash out-rebounded the Pioneers, 39-34.

GAME NOTES

• Saint Francis improves to 22-15 all-time against Sacred Heart.
• Cohen is the fourth Red Flash player with a double-double this season, joining Dixon-Conover, senior Mark Flagg and junior Myles Thompson.
• A season-high 10 Red Flash players found the scoring column.
• The 58 points allowed marked the first time Saint Francis held an opponent under 60 points since the Red Flash recorded a 70-55 victory at Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 15, 2020.
• The victory was Saint Francis' second in its black alternates this season. The Red Flash knocked off Pitt on opening night in the debut of its new addition to the uniform collection.

UP NEXT 
The Red Flash and Pioneers will close out their two-game set Friday at 4 p.m. on NEC Front Row.
 
Follow Saint Francis Men's Basketball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get up-to-date information and a behind-the-scenes look at the Red Flash.
 
To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.