Stonehill took the lead it would not relinquish with 10:39 left in the first half. The resilient Red Flash mounted four second-half rallies to cut a double-figure margin to single digits.Â
capped a 7-0 run with a layup at 7:14 to trim the margin to 60-57, but the Skyhawks answered with a 7-0 run of its own to restore a 10-point lead with 4:58 left. The Red Flash cut it to four points two more times in the final minute but could get no closer.
FLASH MOMENTS
The Frankies jumped out to an 11-5 lead thanks to four baskets by Pinedo and a triple by Kelly for a six-point lead four minutes and 45 seconds into the game.
In the second half, Saint Francis had a 7-2 spurt to cut the margin to 45-40 with 16:15 left. Cranford hit a trey, and Parker and Kelly both had buckets in the surge.Â
Trailing 58-45 midway through the second half, the Red Flash went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 60-57 with 7:14 left. Cranford had five points, Pinedo four, and
Bobby Rosenberger III hit a triple.Â
The Skyhawks restored a double-digit lead with 4:58 on the clock before Saint Francis went on a 10-4 spurt to make it a four-point game with 53 seconds left after a
Victor Payne layup, who had four points in the run.Â
FLASH NUGGETS
Pinedo became the fifth Saint Francis player to score 20 points in a game this season, joining Parker, Rosenberger, Cranford, and
Jeremy Clayville. The team has nine 20+ point games this season, with six coming away from Loretto. Pinedo's 24 points are the second most scored this season by a Flash player after Parker had 29 against LIU on January 23.Â
Pinedo has posted double figures in nine of the 12 NEC games and 13 times this season. He has grabbed at least seven rebounds 11 times this season and turned away a pair of shots four times.Â
Kelly has recorded double figures six times this season and in five of his last six. He is averaging 12.2 points per game in that stretch.
Parker continues his season-long streak of reaching 10 points in a game to seven games, tying Cranford for the longest streak this season. Cranford had his streak at the end of non-conference play. The junior, who had 10+ in five straight games twice earlier this season, is averaging 16.3 points per game in his current streak.
Cranford, the current NEC Rookie of the Week, finished the game with eight points.
