Sacred Heart grabbed the advantage on the first possession in the second half and the Saint Francis tried to play catchup the rest of the way. The Red Flash tied the game five times before the Pioneers took the lead for good on a layup with 12:54 left in the second half at 49-47 that catapulted a 24-8 run. Saint Francis cut the margin to eight points in the final two minutes, but could get no closer the rest of the way.

FLASH QUOTES
"We got off to a good start and executed on both ends in the first half. Max and Josh did a great job carrying us the first 20 minutes. When they went on their run part way through the second half we had too many breakdowns defensively and did not share the ball offensively. We had a hard time generating easy baskets because we could not string together consecutive stops." - head coach Rob Krimmel on the game  

"We now have to turn our attention to playoff basketball and get ready  for Wagner on Wednesday. We must find a way to execute on both ends for 40 minutes against a very good basketball team.  Our sense of urgency and attention to detail will be important as we prepare for Wednesday night." - Krimmel on the next game 

FLASH MOMENTS
Trailing 8-4 with 16:47 left in the first half, Saint Francis scored eight of the next 11 points to take a 12-11 lead. Land had five points in the spurt.

After the Pioneers took a 15-14 edge at 11:20, the Red Flash seven of the next nine points to take a 21-17 advantage with 8:43 on the clock in the first half. Land and Cohen each had buckets before Luke Ruggery (Duncansville, Pa.) capped the spurt with a trey. The lead teetered to no more than three points the rest of the stanza and the Red Flash went into the locker room with a 34-33 edge.

FLASH NUGGETS
Cohen, who had 19 points and eight rebounds in the win at Central Connecticut State on Thursday, averaged 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the two games this week. He has registered at least 19 points in his last three games and is averaging 21.7 points and 7.7 points in his last three games. The redshirt sophomore has posted three 20-point games in his last seven tilts and is averaging 18.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in that stretch.

Land has four exactly 20-point games in his last 15 games. He has reached the mark in both games against Sacred Heart, the game on Thursday against Central Connecticut State and the first time he scored 20 points was at LIU on Jan. 8. The sophomore is averaging 14.0 points in the 11 games with the two 20-point games against the Pioneers book ending the stretch. He became the first player to register consecutive 20-point games since Keith Braxton accomplished the feat against Robert Morris (2/29/20) and Bryant (3/4/20).

Mark Flagg (Fairless Hills, Pa.) registered six points and eight rebounds. The eight boards moved him over the 700 carom mark in his career. He is the 18th player in team history to reach 700 boards in his career and can move into 17th place with 11 rebounds. In addition, the redshirt senior is the 16th player in program history to post 900 points and 700 rebounds.in his career.

Brad McCabe (Manasquan, N.J.) added eight points and eight rebounds. Zahree Harrison (West Philadelphia, Pa.) also had eight points in the loss.

It will be the third meeting against Wagner in the NEC Tournament and the first since the epic 71-70 Saint Francis win in the NEC Semifinals in 2016-17. The Seahawks also defeated the Loretto program 100-83 in 1985-86. Both games in the postseason have been played in Staten Island. 

UP NEXT
Saint Francis returns to action and to the NEC postseason for the first time since 2019-20 on Wednesday at Wagner. Game time is 7 p.m.