WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> The men's basketball game in Loretto might be best summed up by Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities" quote "It was the worst of times; it was the best of times." Saint Francis scored 15 points in the first half and shot 14.8 percent from the floor, but then nearly pulled off its second 20+-point rally with a 50-point second half thanks to shooting 60.8 percent from the floor.
>> The second half rally was not enough for these Fighting Red Flash in a 72-65 loss to Mount St. Mary's in non-conference men's basketball action.
>> Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) paced Saint Francis with 20 points.
>> Aaron "Ace" Talbert (Wyandanch, N.Y.) added 16 points and Carlos Lopez (Egg Harbor, N.J.) tied his career high with 12 points.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Trailing 12-11, the Mount scored seven of the next eight points to take the lead for good.
 
Despite trailing by 25 points, the Frankies mounted a comeback and was able to cut the margin to six points after a Gregory 3-pointer with 35 seconds left but could get no closer the rest of the way.

FLASH QUOTES
"You find out a lot about a lot about a group when their backs are against the wall. And I've coached teams where that 15 could have gone to 30 really easily. But this group continues to battle. They continue to do the things that we asked them in that whole process driven approach and doing it the right way. That that toughness and consistency. Now these guys have to understand the urgency that they need to play with from the very jump and to be a little bit tougher the next time. We've shown signs it's now that consistency that we're searching for." – Krimmel on the game
 
"What I love about him the most is he hasn't changed his approach to practice, to the weight room or to his to his individual workouts. He's been steady. He's been consistent. And that's not easy to do for a young person because I know he wanted to play better. The whole team knows that. He's a very talented basketball player and person. He's too talented, he's too gifted and to see him have some success today is a step for him. We'll continue to build on this because I know he wants to be the best version of himself." – Krimmel on Lopez
 
"I feel like we have a really strong team. A lot of people counted us out and they're finally starting to see the type of guys that we have. We have a lot of guys that are gritty and willing to do anything to get the job done. And I'm proud of our team. We're facing some adversity right now and it's perfectly fine but we know we're going to turn it around when it comes time." – Gregory on the team
 
"The message that Dan Henry relayed to the team today after shoot around is a reminder of why I coach. Hopefully we plant a seed so that when they go out in the world, they're going to do good things. And Dan Henry is a living example of that and I'm excited to see what his next steps will be as a young man." – Krimmel on having former player Dan Henry around today

FLASH MOMENTS
Mount St. Mary's started the first half scoring the first five points of the game, but Saint Francis answered with an 8-2 spurt to take an 8-7 edge with 15:57 left in the first half. Gregory had five points to fuel the run.
 
Trailing 11-8, the Red Flash scored the next four points to take its final lead of the night at 12-11 thanks to a Miles Webb (Arlington, Va.) basket and two free throws by Lopez with 11:14 remaining in the half.
 
Saint Francis started the second frame on a 15-1 run to trim the margin to 41-30 with 15:11 left. Gregory once again was the catalyst for the run with eight points while Eli Wilborn (Middletown, Conn.) added four points in the spurt.
 
The Mount extended its lead to 16 points again before the Frankies went on a 33-23 run to cut the margin to 69-63 after a Gregory 3-ball with 35 seconds left. Talbert had 12 of his 16 points in this span.

FLASH NUGGETS
Gregory notched his second career 20-point game and second against a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponent after posting a career-high 22 points against Niagara on November 25. The sophomore, who is averaging 19.7 points per game in the three games against MAAC teams. Gregory also notched his second career span of scoring double figures in three-straight games.
 
Talbert registered his fourth 10+ point game of his career and his third in DeGol Arena. The 16 points on Friday were the second-most points he scored after his career-best 19 points against Franciscan on November 22. Talbert has registered double figures in four of his last six games he has played.
 
Lopez matched his career high of 12 points he scored at American on December 2. It was the first time he has reached double figures at home in his career.
 
Wilborn, the current Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week, finished the game with six points, five rebounds, three blocks and two assists despite missing the majority of the first half after picking up two fouls. The freshman has three rejections in three-straight games, a feat that only Josh Nebo has accomplished in head coach Rob Krimmel's tenture as a head coach.
 
The home basket was 16-for-29 on the night from behind the arc, while the visitor basket was 2-for-14 from 3-point land. The Mount was 7-for-15 in the first half going away from its bench and then 1 of 6 in the second half, while the Frankies were 1 of 8 away from its bench in the opening frame and 9 of 14 in the second half on the home side.
 
Saint Francis made 10 3-pointers for the second time this season and the first time at DeGol Arena. The Red Flash also had 10 from downtown at American.
 
Saint Francis wore gold shoelaces to raise awareness for the Go4TheGoal's Lace Up For Pediatric Cancer initiative.

The Red Flash and the Mount played its first non-conference game since 1964 and the first non-conference game in Loretto in the regular season since 1959. The Mountaineers and Frankies used to be in the NEC together before Mount St. Mary's left for the MAAC last season. The Red Flash finished 0-3 against the MAAC this season but lost to the three teams by a combined score of 22 points. 

FLASH NUGGETS
The Red Flash returns to action and continues its three-game homestand against another former NEC foe, Robert Morris, on Wednesday. Game time is 7 p.m.