Red Flash Come Up Short In Tough Road Game at A-10’s La Salle
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Nov. 24, 2007) – Paul Johnson’s slam dunk in transition gave La Salle the lead for good as the Explorers handed the Saint Francis men’s basketball team a crushing 65-59 non-conference defeat on Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.
The Red Flash let an early 10-2 lead get away, and then regained the lead until Johnson’s bucket with 2:33 remaining, to fall to 0-5 on the season. Saint Francis will return to action 7 p.m. Wednesday night when Youngstown State visits DeGol Arena.
“We played well enough to win,” said Saint Francis head coach Bobby Jones. “We did a lot of good things in this game. We came out with very good focus, but we committed 10 turnovers in the first half. I think we had seven or eight turnovers in the first four minutes. That got us in trouble. We made some big shots and some big plays in the second half. But against an Atlantic 10 opponent, we must play a perfect game to win. We’ve got to learn how to win. This is certainly a step in the right direction.”
Junior Chris Berry (Seagoville, Texas / Seagoville) had a team-high 14 points and 9 rebounds, while redshirt junior Cale Nelson (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) tallied 12 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal and sophomore Devin Sweetney (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) had 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal.
Darnell Harris had a game-high 18 points to go with 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal for La Salle.
The Explorers scored the first bucket of the game as Saint Francis turned the ball over on its first three offensive possessions. But the Red Flash gained their composure and scored the game’s next 10 points. However, that lead evaporated with La Salle’s 19-2 run to give the Explorers a 21-12 lead with 9:46 to go in the first half.
The Explorers took a 37-27 lead into halftime and appeared to be in control. However, Jones had his squad ready to play in the second half. The Red Flash cut the lead to five points just over two minutes into the final frame. SFU would eventually tie it at 50-50 on a pair of free throws by junior Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal / Riverdale Baptist). Junior Marquis Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla. / St. Petersburg) played his best game of the young season, and sunk a 3-pointer to give the Red Flash a 53-50 lead. They would maintain that lead until Jerrell Williams made a layup, and then Johnson made his slam dunk in transition on La Salle’s next offensive possession to turn a 55-52 deficit into a 56-55 Explorers lead. La Salle made 4-of-7 free throw attempts over the final 2:33 to seal the victory.