WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Josh Cohen (Lincroft, N.J.) posted 22 of his 27 points in the second half, eight in overtime and the game-winner with 3.6 seconds left in overtime to lift Saint Francis past Sacred Heart 78-76 in Northeast Conference (NEC) men's basketball action on Thursday night on ESPN U.
>> The redshirt junior started the game 2-for-9 from the floor and then made his final nine shots of the evening in the second half. Cohen stuffed the stat sheet with 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
>> Brad McCabe (Manasquan, N.J.) had 12 points, including helping to send the game to overtime by making the front end of two free throws with 17 seconds left in regulation.
>> Maxwell Land (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 14 points in the winning effort.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Most storybook that endings do not start by saying down 17 points in the second half, but tonight in Loretto this one did. Trailing 57-40 with 11:57 left in the game, the Red Flash closed the second half on a 30-13 run to send the game to overtime.
 
Cohen had all eight points in overtime for the Red Flash, tying the game at 72, and 76 and giving the home team the lead at 74-72 and the game-winner with 3.6 seconds left. With Saint Francis trailing 76-74, the Pioneers had the ball and turned the ball over. The redshirt junior converted into a basket with 49 seconds left to even the score at 76. After a missed Sacred Heart shot, Cohen corralled the rebound and came down made a shot fake off a Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) pass, and scored high off the glass while falling to the ground with 3.6 seconds left. The Pioneers had a chance, but time expired to give Saint Francis its second defensive stop win at the buzzer this season.

FLASH QUOTES
"Tonight, I think we were down 17 with about 10 to go and to be able to come back and put ourselves in a position late. Brad big free throw to tie it and then Josh obviously his bucket to win the game. A lot of things you can point to and you know as to how we got to where we were to be in a position to win a basketball game like that, but I think two players in particular I thought Wisler Sanon II and Cam in the second-half really with about 10 minutes to go did a fantastic job of coming in and changing the intensity of our defense and we started to play through our defense we held them to 32 points in the second-half and that's a really good offensive team." – head coach Rob Krimmel on the game
 
"I thought Gestin Liberis did a great job coming in while Josh was not playing particularly well. That's the sign of a good team when your star players are not playing well you need someone to come in and pick them up. But big time shot by Josh again to be able to come back and his poise and his composure down the stretch." – Krimmel on his No. 5 men
 
"The game itself is momentum and the season is about momentum. We want to be playing our best basketball as we get into February and approach March. So to be able to come back that way you know hopefully it gives these guys confidence in a blueprint to understand what it's going to take the next game that offensive execution and defensive stops and being able to duplicate that." – Krimmel on next game
 
"I was kind of focus on the defensive end in the beginning of the game and I was kind of trying to get some stops and offensively I was kind of being soft. That's kind of the theme, I just kind of gave up on some plays and trying to get some post fades and they weren't going down and when I went back in there I just kind of got some angles like some different they were giving me my right shoulder, so I just kind of I knew that when I came out of the game I was kind of frustrated I didn't go after it. The first time I got in there I kind of went right after it and then I did it again and once one went in it just started flowing." – redshirt junior Josh Cohen on his game
 
"It was super important. I mean we were on a four-game losing streak so to come back home and protect DeGol was a big momentum push for our team." – junior Maxwell Land on the win
 
"With me and Josh coming in the game and just making an impact as I looked up this I looked up at the scoreboard, I didn't want to look back because just like going to put me more in my head. I had the first one I would like to I would like to hit both but it turned out to be alright." – redshirt junior on being at the foul line to tie the game at the end of regulation
 
FLASH MOMENTS
Down 17 points, Cohen scored 14 points and McCabe added eight points in the 30-13 run.
 
The Red Flash also started the game by scoring the first 11 points of the game. McCabe hit back-to-back 3-balls, Land had a basket and Luke Ruggery (Duncansville, Pa.) hit a basket from downtown in the first two minutes and 59 seconds of the game.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
Cohen has now scored 20 points 12 times this season and 15 times in his career. The 27 points are the second most he has ever scored in DeGol Arena next to his 40-point performance against Lehigh on November 21. The redshirt junior now has 518 points this season to become the eighth player under Krimmel to scored 500 points in a single season and his total is currently the sixth most in the last 11 years. Cohen needs 26 points to become the 43rd player in team history to score 1,000 points in his career.
 
McCabe has now posted three-straight 10-point games for the first time in his career. He now has eight games in double figures in points and 11 times in his career. Land, who also had five rebounds for the 14th time this season, has registered double figures in nine of his last 11 games on the season and 43 times in his career.
 
Saint Francis has hit 10 baskets from behind the arc for the third-straight home game, the fourth time in NEC play and the seventh time on the season with all of them coming at DeGol Arena. The squad is 8-0 at home when it hits at least eight from behind the arc at home.

Saint Francis played its first overtime game since playing St. Francis Brooklyn on February 19, 2022, while it earned its first overtime win since defeating CCSU 77-71 on February 15, 2018.
 
It was the second time this season the team had a defensive stand at the end of the game to earn the win. The squad defeated Stonehill 73-72 on December 31.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
The Red Flash return to action at home against Merrimack on Saturday. Tipoff is 4 p.m.