With the Eagles leading 66-65 with 4:42 left, American closed the game on a 17-8 run to close the game. During this stretch, American missed the second free throw twice, but grabbed the rebound and was fouled to get back at the line and that turned into a four-point swing. The Eagles also hit an NBA three-ball right before the shot clock expired.

FLASH QUOTES
"I thought in the first half from a scouting report standpoint we let guys do what they are comfortable doing. We dug that hole and fortunately put it back into a situation where it was close down the stretch. Against a good team on the road you cannot give them more opportunities at their own rim. It's a tough lesson to learn, but give American credit and we will be back at it at Hartford." – head coach Rob Krimmel on the game

"Certainly, what Coach Phelan meant to both programs, but where he started his career at Saint Francis as a player and was a person that was respected by everybody. Who he was as a player pales in comparison to who he was as a person. It will be an opportunity to honor his memory, share support with his family and bring two programs together that meant so much as a player for us and a coach for Hartford. Certainly, looking forward to competing and playing in his honor. It will be our next opportunity to compete against a well-coached and talented team." – Krimmel on the Jack Phelan Classic on December 14 at the University of Hartford (Red Flash's next game)

FLASH MOMENTS
Trailing 33-23 with 7:33 left in the first half, the Red Flash closed the stanza on a 17-7 run to make it a three-point game going into the locker room. Cohen and Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J.) both had six points to power the spurt.

Saint Francis tied the game at 51 thanks to a 8-0 spurt. Dixon-Conover had a basket before Cohen scored three-straight buckets to give the Loretto program its second lead of the night at 53-51 with 14:03 remaining.

The Eagles retook a five-point lead, but two points apiece from Dixon-Conover and Cohen made it a one possession game at 60-59 midway through the final frame, and again at 4:42 left. Both times American went down on the ensuing possession and missed its initial attempt, but corralled the rebound and scored second-chance points to hinder the Red Flash comeback hopes.

FLASH NUGGETS
Cohen in his last five games has posted at least 14 points four times and at least 18 points three times. His 23 points matches the team single-game high that Dixon-Conover established against Bucknell seven days ago. The duo are also the only two players with a 20-point game this season.Cohen also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds, and has registered at least five rebounds in each of his last five games, at least seven rebounds four times, and at least eight rebounds three times and a 10-rebound game for his second double-double of his career against Cornell on Nov. 24. The redshirt sophomore, who played a career-high 33 minutes on the night, is averaging 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in his last five tilts.

Dixon-Conover recorded his second-high point total of the season to his 23-point game against the Bison. He has scored double figures in six of the seven games he has played and has reached at least 16 points in four of those contests. He has grabbed at least five rebounds in four contests and dished out at least three assists in all seven games he has played. Coming into the game, the redshirt senior paced the Northeast Conference in assists and ranked second in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Giles has posted double figures for the fifth-straight game and the sixth time in the last seven tilts. The sophomore had nine points in his first homecoming game at George Washington on Nov. 9.

Thompson finished the game with eight points. With his jumper in the paint with 6:27 left in the first half, Thompson reached 800 points for his career. He is the second player to reach 800 points this season, joining redshirt senior Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury).

UP NEXT
Saint Francis returns to action on Tuesday, December 14 at the University of Hartford in the Jack Phelan Classic. Phelan is a graduate of Saint Francis and was the head coach of Hartford. He passed in June of 2020 and is in both schools' athletic Hall of Fame. Tip off is 7 p.m.