By HUGH CONRAD
LORETTO — The St. Francis men’s basketball team is starting to believe.
After being picked by the coaches to finish last in the Northeast Conference prior to the start of the season, St. Francis has reeled off two straight wins in the conference.
Saturday night at the Stokes Center, the Red Flash defeated the team that was picked to finish first, Mount St. Mary’s,
73-66.
“Tonight, for the first time since I have been at St. Francis University, we ended up with a total team effort for 40 minutes,” St. Francis coach Don Friday said.
“We played smart basketball on the offense, we played with a lot of energy and a lot of focus and purpose on the defensive end. Our kids stuck to the game plan right until the end.”
The team’s 2-0 start to a season in the NEC is the first for the Red Flash since 2004.
The win was special for the Red Flash seniors because of a loss that the team suffered last year in Emittsburg, Md.
“It was personal for me because we went into their place as a rag-tag group, banged up, with very few guys, and they beat our (butts),” Kurt Hoffman said about a 93-63 loss on Feb. 21.
“We wanted to come in here and make a statement for them.”
Mission accomplished.
Mount St. Mary’s coach Milan Brown, through a spokesman, declined to be interviewed after the game.
The game was close early, but the Red Flash asserted control midway through the first half, building a nine-point lead after freshman Will Felder hit a field goal to give the Red Flash a
28-19 lead with 2:58 left in the first half.
St. Francis held a 32-27 advantage at the half.
Felder, a true freshman, led the Red Flash with 19 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
“I just tried to do what I could to help the team,” Felder said.
“I was getting loose balls and putting them back in.”
The Mountaineers made a short run to catch the Red Flash when Jeremy Goode hit a layup with 19:23 left in the game. They would get no closer.
St. Francis was effective in holding Goode, one of the premier guards in the NEC, to
4-of-12 from the field. The other starting guard, Jean Cajou, was 3-of-15 from the field.
The players explained the defensive scheme that Friday employed successfully against Goode, one that kept him from driving to the basket.
“We put a focus on walling off the paint, putting our shoes on the paint,” Hoffman said.
“We wanted to discourage him from getting in there.”
In addition to Felder’s 19, Devin Sweetney scored 16, freshman Anthony Ervin 11 and Cedric Latimer 10.
Kelly Beidler and Goode each scored 17 to lead the Mount
(3-5, 0-2).
St. Francis will be off for final exams this week and will return to action Dec. 13 at Drexel.
