WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Maxwell Land's (Cincinnati, Ohio) shot hit the front of the rim but did not fall as time expired to give Sacred Heart a 54-51 win in Northeast Conference (NEC) men's basketball action on Monday.
>> Josh Cohen (Lincroft, N.J.) paced the Red Flash with 23 points and nine rebounds.
>> Ronell Giles, Jr. (Brandywine, Md.) added a season-high 14 points, while Land registered nine points and eight rebounds.
>> Saint Francis is now 4-1 in NEC play this season

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Sacred Heart took the lead for good at 16:40 in the second half and pushed its lead to 50-39 with 10:21 left. The Red Flash and its defense outscored 12-3 the rest of the way and had a chance to tie the game in the end. Cohen had nine of the 12 points while Wisler Sanon II (Sickersville, N.J.) knocked down three free throws.
 
The Pioneers in the final four minutes had a possession where it grabbed three offensive rebounds, another with two offensive rebounds and two made free throws. Sacred Heart turned the ball over with 42 seconds left and the Red Flash had a chance to cut into the three-point margin but missed the frontend of a 1-and-1 with the Pioneers getting the rebound.
 
A Pioneer missed jumper with 9.8 seconds and a Sanon rebound gave the Red Flash a chance to tie the game with a 3-ball, but Land's chance bounced off the front of the rim.

FLASH QUOTES
"Certainly, come on the road and be three points short is very disappointing. Defensively, I thought we played extremely well. We put ourselves in position over the course of 40 minutes to be able to win, tie a game against a very talented team. We didn't shoot the ball well, but in spite of that even in those nights we don't shoot the ball well you got to take care of the basketball. I can live with a couple nights where the shots are not falling – it's going to happen, it's basketball. The lesson learned is we got to execute better. We got to get better shots and put our ourselves in a position where we can set our defense." - head coach Rob Krimmel on the game

FLASH MOMENTS
The first half was a seesaw battle that saw neither team take more than a four-point lead in first 20 minutes.
 
The Red Flash jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a Cohen basket and a Cohen free throw on separate possessions. Trailing 8-6, the Loretto team scored six unanswered to grab a 12-8 advantage with 9:41 left in the first half thanks to two points apiece by Cohen, Giles and Land.
 
With the game knotted at 19, Cohen and Land scored consecutive buckets for a 23-19 edge with 4:18 on the clock.

FLASH NUGGETS
Giles played a season-high in minutes for the second-straight game with 34 minutes. He finished with a season-high 14 points and he tied a career-high with seven rebounds. It was also the sixth time in his career he has recorded three steals in a game. His 14 points were the most in a game since he had 18 points against Wagner on December 29, 2021, while he reached double figures for the third time this season.
 
It is the fifth time the Red Flash has played on a Sunday or a Monday and Cohen has posted at least 21 points in all five games on those two days, including his two 40-point performances. It was the eighth time this season the redshirt junior has posted at least 20 points in a game. He also grabbed at least nine rebounds for the ninth time this season and the second-straight game.
 
The loss ends Saint Francis four-game winning streak and 4-0 start to league play. The four-straight wins to start NEC play were the most since the 1990-91 team started the year 6-0. The four-game winning streak was the longest since the 2019-20 team reeled off eight-straight wins. The 4-1 start matches the second-best start in program history for the sixth time, joining the 1986-87, 1989-90, 1997-98, 2014-15 and 2017-18 teams.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis, who currently is riding a four-game homestand at home, returns to DeGol Arena against St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday. Tip-off is 7 p.m.