Published: November 25, 2009 10:59 pm      

Long scoring drought sinks St. Francis

LORETTO — The St. Francis Red Flash show spurts of promise at times, but they also show the effects of youth.

In a battle with Patriot League competitor Lehigh Wednesday night at the Stokes Center, the Red Flash tied the game at 60 with 9:46 left, but then did not score for five minutes before falling 76-67.

That inconsistency has been frustrating for second-year coach Don Friday.

“We are a program right now that is searching for a defensive presence, and we have to find some offensive purpose,” Friday said. “It was 65-60 with four minutes to play, and we don’t have any quality possessions when it really counted from about 4:28 to 1:28 when it was really important to make plays.”

The Red Flash have lost four games in a row after a season-opening win over American University. Friday has seven freshmen among his squad, so he has to try to bring them together as a team despite their lack of experience.

“We certainly can’t beat them down; we have to build them up,” Friday said about his players, who will travel to Ohio State on Saturday. “We can come in (today) only for an hour. These are young guys. We have explained what they have to do, but they have to get reps.”

The Red Flash charged out to a

20-11 lead, putting together a 9-0 run after Will Felder completed a conventional 3-point play with 9:50 left before halftime.

Then the Mountain Hawks returned the favor with a 9-0 run of their own, tying the game at 20 at the 6:19 mark of the first half.

The teams were tied at 25 at the 4:32 mark before Lehigh outscored the Flash 10-5 to take a 35-30 halftime advantage.

The Red Flash shot well from the perimeter, hitting 12 of 23 from

3-point range. Freshman Umar Shannon connected on four of six from beyond the arc.

Lehigh received outstanding production from its guards, with

C.J. McCollum leading them with

20 points, including a 10-for-10 performance at the free-throw line.

Freshman Holden Greiner, who was averaging one point per game coming in, was 8-for-10 from the field for

18 points.

Junior Cedric Latimer and Shannon each scored 14 for the Red Flash (1-4) and Devin Sweetney added 11.