SFU Men’s Hoops Drops Back and Forth Battle Against Youngstown State
LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 28, 2007) – Redshirt junior point guard Cale Nelson (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) scored a career high 25 points and redshirt junior Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal / Riverdale Baptist) had his second career double-double, but the Saint Francis men’s basketball team fell victim to Youngstown State, 70-65, on Wednesday night in a game that featured five ties and 10 lead changes, at DeGol Arena.
The Red Flash finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio in the positive for the first time this season, but the Penguins made five of six crucial free throw attempts down the stretch to put the game out of reach for SFU.
The Red Flash dropped to 0-6 on the season, while Youngstown State improved to 3-2. Saint Francis will turn its attention to Patriot League power Bucknell in a game that will be played at 7 p.m. Saturday in Lewisburg.
“Not one of us anticipated starting the season this way, particularly on this home stand,” said Saint Francis head coach Bobby Jones. “It’s a long season, and we have dropped four home games. I guess the most discouraging thing is this team deserves better. They work hard. Our destiny is certainly still in our hands. My job is to make sure the beginning of the season doesn’t determine the outcome of the season.”
Nelson made 9-of-19 attempts from the field for a career high 25 points. Dieng had 13 points and a season-high 10 rebounds to go with 1 assist and 1 block, while redshirt sophomore Devin Sweetney (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) had 11 points and 8 rebounds, and junior Marquis Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla. / St. Petersburg) pitched in with season highs in points (11) and assists (6) off the bench.
The Red Flash, who outrebounded an opponent for the first time this season (36-35), had four players score in double figures for the first time in 2007-08.
Byron Davis had a team-high 21 points for Youngstown State, while John Barber added 17 points, including several big baskets down the stretch.
For the third straight game, the Red Flash had a small lead with less than five minutes remaining. This time, Ford hit a 3-point attempt with 4:00 to go to give Saint Francis a 58-57 lead. But Barber hit a layup and, after a Red Flash miss, turned one of his two steals into bucket to turn a one-point deficit into a 61-58 Penguins lead. The Red Flash cut the lead to one point on three occasions over the final 2:28, but couldn’t come up with the decisive defensive stop. Youngstown State sealed the win by making all four of its free throw attempts in the final 12 seconds.
Saint Francis missed its first four shots from the field and turned the ball over four times in the first four minutes of the game on its way to falling behind 6-0. But Nelson got the team started with a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine early points to spark an 18-2 run to put his team up 18-8. However, the Penguins responded with a 10-2 run to pull within 20-18 with 6:05 remaining in the first half. The Red Flash led much of the first half, but Mikko Niemi came up with a big defensive rebound and then launched a prayer from just beyond mid-court to sink a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Youngstown State a 29-27 lead going into halftime.
Youngstown State has now won 12 straight games when leading at halftime, dating back to a loss at Canisius on Feb. 18, 2006. The Penguins never led by more than six points in the second half.