Dec. 18, 2004

Box Score

Loretto, Pa. - Hosting St. Francis parlayed a strong start to the second half of action into a 70-44 victory over The Rock in non-conference action Saturday night.

The loss was The Rock's seventh in as many games this winter and second in as many meetings against "the big boys," NCAA Division I opponents.

The Rock's second loss of the season was an 18-point (78-60) setback Nov. 23 at Youngstown State.

The Rock goes in search of the elusive first win -- and will play its first home game -- of the season on Wednesday, Dec. 22, when SRU will host Mercyhurst in a 7 p.m. game in Morrow Field House.

SRU closes out the 2004 portion of its 2004-05 schedule with back-to-back games in Wheeling, W. Va., on Dec. 30-31. The Rock will take on Fairmont State and Wheeling Jesuit in back-to-back games.

The Rock battled the Red Flash on even terms in the first 20 minutes as the teams went into intermission with the score knotted at 24-24.

St. Francis quickly took control of the game in the second half as the hosts outscored SRU by an 18-2 margin in the first seven minutes to take a 42-26 lead.

The outcome was never in doubt thereafter; St. Francis enjoyed a 20-point advantage throughout the final three minutes.

Glenn Reepmeyer paced The Rock effort Saturday with a "double-double" effort of 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Mason Glick and Bill Johnson added 10 points each.

The Rock shot 37.5 percent (9 of 24) from the field in the first half and a frigid 23.3 percent (7 of 30) from the field in the final 20 minutes to finish with a 29.6 percent efficiency.

SRU committed 17 turnovers to St. Francis' eight and was 3 of 14 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range.