Red Flash Fade In Final Six Minutes of Loss Versus Bryant
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men’s basketball team had a six-point lead with 6:02 to go, but Bryant used a 17-6 run to close out the game and hand the Red Flash a disheartening 65-60 loss on Saturday night at DeGol Arena.
Junior Devin Sweetney (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) was 9-of-13 from the field for 22 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists, but he was the only Saint Francis player in double digit scoring. Sweetney recorded his 900th career point with a reverse layup that gave the Red Flash that 54-48 lead with 6:02 remaining.
Peter Lambert had 22 points for the Bulldogs, while Adam Parzych had 17 off the bench and Cecil Gresham added 10 points.
Saint Francis fell to 5-16 on the season, and will be back in action when it travels to Central Connecticut State for a 7 p.m. tip on Thursday night.
The Red Flash took a 10-point, 30-20, lead into halftime behind a balanced scoring attack that saw no player with more than seven points. They held the lead for the final 15 minutes of the first half, and didn’t relinquish it until Gresham hit a jumper from the free throw line to give Bryant a 55-54 lead with 3:04 remaining in the game.
The following trip down the floor, junior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Croatia / Life Center Academy) drew his fifth and final foul, and Lambert nailed a 3-pointer to make it 58-54 Bulldogs.
However, senior Cale Nelson (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) answered with a trifecta of his own to cut the lead to 58-57 with 1:37 to go. The Red Flash got a defensive stop, but couldn’t capitalize on the offensive possession. Parzych then put a dagger into the heart with a long 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Bryant a four-point lead, 61-57, with 29.8 seconds left.
Sweetney was fouled going to the basket, and made the second of two free throws to make it 61-58 with 12.2 seconds left, but Gresham and Parzych each went 2-for-2 from the foul stripe in the final 11 seconds to close out the victory for the Bulldogs.
Nelson finished with six points and six assists for Saint Francis, senior Grant Surprenant (Palatine, Ill. / Palatine) had nine points and three rebounds, and senior Kyle Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Plainfield Central) added six points and three rebounds.