MOON TOWNSHIP, PA – The St. Francis College Brooklyn men's basketball team (13-18) put forth a valiant effort on the road but narrowly fell to Robert Morris (18-14), 59-58, in the 2020 Northeast Conference (NEC) Quarterfinals on Wednesday night. The Terriers battled to the final buzzer but the Colonials came away with the win after sophomore guard
Larry Moreno's shot rimmed out as time expired.
St. Francis trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the Terriers fought back to cut the Colonials' lead to five at the halftime break. With 3:31 to play in the first half, Robert Morris led, 29-14. St. Francis closed the opening frame on a 12-3 run as Robert Morris led 32-27 at the break.
The Terriers' 12-3 scoring run was capped off by junior guard
Chauncey Hawkins who drilled a buzzer beater from three-quarters court to send St. Francis into the break down by five. Hawkins finished the half with a team-high nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Moreno came off the bench to score six points in the half as he knocked down a pair of three-pointers.
St. Francis continued to push the pace of play in the second half and at one point took a brief four-point lead of its own. The Terriers took their first lead of the half at the 10:41 mark when Hawkins converted a driving layup to put them up 42-41. St. Francis extended its lead to four points twice in the half. With 7:21 to play Hawkins put the Terriers up four with a jumper. After a pair of made free-throws by Robert Morris, senior forward
Deniz Celen dropped in a hook shot to put the Terriers back up four.
The Colonials responded by going on a 13-2 run to go up 58-51 with 1:19 to play. The Terriers once again closed the gap and were able to cut the deficit to 59-58 with 17 seconds to play in the game. Hawkins drilled a clutch three-pointer with 17 seconds to play to bring the Terriers' within one.
With 14 seconds left in the game, Robert Morris' Jon Williams missed a free-throw, which allowed to Terriers to gain the final possession with a chance to win the game. Moreno took the final shot attempt with one second left and his shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Francis Brooklyn – 58 | Robert Morris – 59
- Hawkins led all scorers with 23 points 7-of-13 shooting from the field and went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. The guard became the 33rd member of the Terriers' 1,000 Point Club when he knocked down a pair of free-throws with 56 seconds to play in the game. 14 of his 23 points came in the second half of play as he helped the Terriers cut into Robert Morris' lead.
- Celen finished the game with 10 points and eight rebounds in 33 minutes of play. The forward shot 4-of-10 from the field and dished out a pair of assists.
- Graduate guard Unique McLean scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
- Moreno came off the bench to score eight points in 14 minutes and grabbed four rebounds. He knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the first half for the Terriers.
