Published: December 01, 2008 11:59 pm      

Sports briefs - 12/2

BALTIMORE, Md. – Devin Sweetney hit two critical two free throws with 19.6 seconds remaining as St. Francis beat Morgan State 65-61 on Monday night.

Sweetney recorded his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Red Flash to their second straight win and third in four games.

St. Francis never trailed against the Bears, who were picked by league coaches to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for the second straight season.

Marquis Ford scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Mislav Jukic added 11 points and seven rebounds while Greater Johnstown graduate Kurt Hoffman was 4-for-5 from the field in scoring eight points.

Reggie Holmes paced the Bears with 19 points. Joseph Morgan added 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench.

The Red Flash jumped out to a 12-2 lead and held Morgan State without a field goal for the first 4:51.

Sweetney led the way with eight points and five rebounds in the first half as the Red Flash built a 30-23 halftime lead.

St. Francis took its biggest lead of the game with 14:57 remaining in the second half. Ford drove to the basket for a layup and a 39-27 lead.

The Bears began to chip away and hit two 3-pointers in the final two minutes to make it interesting. Holmes cut the deficit to two with 29.9 seconds remaining.

Nelson made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 62-59 with 28.5 seconds left. Holmes was then fouled while attempting a 3-pointer at the other end with 21.2 seconds remaining. He drained the first two, but Sweetney came down with a rebound on the third attempt and made both his free throws to give St. Francis a 64-61 lead.

Morgan State missed several opportunities to tie in the final seconds. Jukic came down with a critical rebound, and made his first free-throw attempt to seal the win.

Shippensburg 71, UPJ 70

SHIPPENSBURG – Shippensburg rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second half to beat No. 20 Pitt-Johnstown.

Stephon Draper led Shippensburg (4-0) with 18 points. Derrick Graff had 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds while Brian Oleksiak tallied 11 points. Ryan Kraft and Justin Minter netted 10 points apiece.

Marcus Tullis scored a game-high 23 points and Quinton Davis added 21 points, for UPJ (5-1).

The game was tied at 34 at the half before the Mountain Cats opened up an eight point lead three times in the second half, including a 61-53 advantage with 8:12 to play. However, the Red Raiders battled back with a 9-1 run to tie the game for the seventh time at the 4:35 mark.

Shippensburg then took a 68-65 lead with 31 seconds remaining. The Red Raiders sealed the game by hitting three free throws down the stretch. Davis’ 3-pointer as time expired set the final.

Tullis grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Danny Branch chipped in 11 points.

Lady Cats to host Andrews, Cal tonight

Pitt-Johnstown, which is off to a 1-4 to start, will host No. 6 California University of Pennsylvania and Greater Johnstown graduate Crystal Andrews at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.

Andrews scored 17 points in last week’s 81-43 victory over Seton Hill, which helped the Vulcans improve to 4-1.