Nov. 29, 2014 Box Score | PDF Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Saint Francis University (3-3) shot a season-best 65 percent from the floor to post an 85-68 win over Navy (2-5) in a non-conference men's basketball contest at Alumni Hall on Saturday afternoon. Saint Francis U shot 70 percent in the opening half and saw four players score in double figures.
"I thought Saint Francis played very well," said head coach Ed DeChellis. "It was an embarrassing performance by us. We didn't play well the other night either [vs. Penn St.-Harrisburg] and it carried over into tonight. I thought they made every shot they took, especially early. We had no answers for them and it snowballed from there."
Saint Francis' Ollie Jackson scored a game-high 20 points and knocked down six 3-pointers. He was joined in double figures by Malik Harmon (15), Ronnie Drinnon (15) and Earl Brown (12). Greg Brown had six points and eight assists and Drinnon also had six steals.
Although the Mids did shoot a season-best 50 percent from the floor (30-of-60), Navy's defense couldn't get enough stops to contain the Red Flash offense. SFU shot 70.4 percent (19-of-27) in the opening 20 minutes and 65.4 percent (34-of-52) for the game.
Saint Francis U opened the game on a 7-0 run, but Navy responded right back with a 10-2 run of its own to pull ahead at 10-9. Freshman Daniel Noe, making his first career start, keyed the run by hitting a 3-pointer, assisting on a Grant Vermeer fast-break layup, and then grabbing an offensive board and dropping in a put-back layup.
The Red Flash then made four straight buckets to pull ahead and at one point in the first half the team was shooting a blistering 79 percent from the floor (15-of-19). Two buckets by sophomore Edward Alade kept Navy close as the team pulled to within two at 28-26 with 7:30 left, but the Red Flash closed the half on an 18-2 run to take an 18-point lead into the locker room at 46-28.
Saint Francis scored the first five points of the second half for a 19-0 run that spanned both periods until Vermeer hit a long jumper. However, the Red Flash had already built a 23-point lead. Navy was unable to get the lead back under 20 until 29 seconds left in the game after a steal and fast-break layup by senior captain Kevin Alter.
Navy's reserves played well in the final six minutes of the game and closed the contest on a 17-7 run. Freshman Tom Lacey threw down a dunk and freshman Shawn Anderson scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and also had four rebounds.
Senior guard Brandon Venturini led Navy with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds. Alade added 10 points for his fourth double-digit scoring output of the season.
Navy was shorthanded against the Red Flash as five players were out with injuries, including three players that were starters during the 2013-14 season (Will Kelly, Kendall Knorr and Worth Smith).
The 65.4 percent that Saint Francis shot from the floor was the highest percentage against Navy since Mercer shot 66.7 percent on Dec. 30, 2011. The percentage was also the 11th-highest in the NCAA this season.
Navy will next host Penn on Wednesday at 7:00 PM in the final game of a three-game homestand.