WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis had a strong end to the first half and cut the margin to six points early in the second half against a nationally-ranked opponent on Saturday, but the Red Flash dropped a non-conference men's basketball game to No. 25 Ohio State.
>> Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) registered a career-high 15 points against the Buckeyes.
>> Josh Cohen (Lincroft, N.J.) notched his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Maxwell Land (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted 14 points in his return to his home state.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
After Cohen cut the margin to 44-38 with 19:31 left in the second half, the Buckeyes went on a 29-9 run and never looked back to earn its second win against the Loretto program with a 96-59 decision.

FLASH QUOTES
"If you look at their physicality the willed their style in the second half. They had 14 points in the paint at the 12-minute media timeout and they finished the first half with 18 points and that is when we made our run. For 20 minutes of basketball, I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought we executed really well. Instead of taking a me shot I thought we got a lot of really good looks." – head coach Rob Krimmel on the game against Ohio State
 
"With him having 10 rebounds for the game that is a credit to his toughness. He has been playing at that level all year. To have a player at that level I consider a privilege. It's good to see him perform especially against a physical team like Ohio State." – Krimmel on Josh Cohen's play

FLASH MOMENTS
Trailing 35-24 with 9:46 left, the Red Flash closed the half on an 14-9 run to go into halftime trailing 44-36. Land and Cohen combined for nine of the points while Gregory and Brad McCabe (Manasquan, N.J.) also had buckets in the spurt.
 
Saint Francis started the second half with a Cohen basket to cut the margin to six points with 19:31 left in the contest, but could get no closer the rest of the way.

FLASH NUGGETS
Cohen posted his first double-double in 14 games with his last trick coming at Mount St. Mary's with 10 points and 10 rebounds on February 12, 2022. He now has eight career double-doubles and is the second player on the team to post a double-double this season. Land has two double-doubles in 2022-23. Cohen has posted at least 18 points in a game in seven of the nine contests this season.
 
Gregory reached double figures for the first time in his career with his 15 points after posting a pair of games with a eight points earlier this season. It is the second-most points scored this season by a Frankies freshman with Landon Moore's (Bloomington, Ill.) 16 points at Butler on Nov. 17 the tops this season. Gregory also had three assists and posted 20 assists in his last seven tilts.
 
Land played 110 miles from his hometown of Cincinnati and the second time in his home state of Ohio. After posting 15 points against Ohio University last season, the junior registered 14 points against a nationally-ranked opponent. It is the sixth time this season he has reached double figures and the 34 time in his career.

Moore finished with five assists for the third time in his career.

The game was the 62nd time in program history Saint Francis played a ranked opponent, the 12th time under Krimmel and the first since playing No. 15 Virginia on December 1, 2020.

Saint Francis sophomore Brendan Scanlon's (State College, Pa.) grandfather (Gary Milliken) played at Ohio State and was a member of the 1960 national championship team. Milliken and Scanlon were recognized at half court together in a pregame ceremony. Scanlon played two minutes and notched his first career steal in the game.

NEXT TIME OUT

Saint Francis returns to action at home against Saint Vincent on Thursday. The Maurice Stokes Athletic Center turns 50 on Sunday and the Red Flash's first-ever opponent was Saint Vincent. The two teams will meet 50 years and four days from the inaugural game at the facility. Game time is 7:30 p.m. and will follow a Saint Francis women's basketball game against Vermont.