WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> A valiant effort to nearly rally from a 16-point deficit fell just short for Saint Francis men's basketball in a 70-66 loss at Merrimack in Northeast Conference action on Saturday.
>> Maxwell Land (Cincinnati, Ohio) drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 62 seconds left to cut the margin to 68-66. A turnover by the Warriors gave the Red Flash the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Josh Cohen's (Lincroft, N.J.) shot attempt hit off the rim and out and Merrimack corralled the rebound to secure the win.
>> Cohen paced Saint Francis with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Land added 15 points and eight rebounds.
>> Brad McCabe (Manasquan, N.J.) notched double figures in points in consecutive games for the first time in his career and narrowly missed his first career double-double, finishing with a season-high 14 points and nine rebounds.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
After the Red Flash tied the game at 20, the Warriors scored eight unanswered points to take the lead they would not relinquish, but it did come down to the wire after leading by as many as 16 points.
 
A 19-4 run cut a 63-47 deficit to 68-66 with 1:02 on the clock. McCabe hit a pair of 3's in the comeback attempt, while Cohen added five points before Land's trey with 62 seconds left but could not get any closer.

FLASH QUOTES
"Surely disappointed that we fell short tonight, but I'm pleased the way we responded. I told the group afterwards that when we got down 16 and because of the way the last three games before this one very easily folded and that game could have gotten out of hand. I thought we waited too long in the second half to play as hard as we did. We got it to one possession, and it didn't go our way, but now we are off this road swing, and I'm pleased the way we finished this game. It has been a tough stretch but to be able to take some momentum as we head back home and build on this is a credit to the guys in that locker room." – head coach Rob Krimmel on the game
 
"Home court is important to protect, and I know these guys have established a little bit of pride in playing in DGol Arena especially as of late. I know they will be excited to be back at home and it's been a long road swing, but everyone is college basketball team goes through it. We were on the road a lot and certainly wish we could have pulled one of these games out, but that is behind us at this point. We've got to focus on our next game at home against Sacred Heart, who is playing very well and will give us a good test. Our guys will be happy to be back in the friendly confines of DeGol Arena." – Krimmel on next game and home court

FLASH MOMENTS
Trailing 18-10, the Red Flash went on an 10-2 run to tie the game at 20. Cohen had five points in the run including the basket to tie it at 20 with 6:42 left in the first half.
 
Saint Francis cut the margin to 35-32 after a Land 3-pointer right before halftime, but Merrimack made two free throws with three seconds left to take a five-point lead going into the break.
 
The Red Flash scored five of the first seven points in the second half to cut the margin to 39-37 with 17:19 left and then got the defensive rebound for a chance to tie the game, but a turnover and a 24-10 run by the Warriors gave the hosts a 63-47 lead with 8:15 left.

FLASH NUGGETS
Cohen registered 17 points for the second-straight games and now has 491 points on the year. The redshirt junior is also closing in on 1,000 points in his career and now sits at 947 points in his career. He added eight rebounds to post eight rebounds or more for the 12th time this season.
 
McCabe notched his seventh 10+ game this season and the 10th of his career but recorded back-to-back double-digits games for the first time in his career after posting 12 points at Stonehill on Thursday. His nine rebounds tie his career best that he set at CCSU last year.
 
Land has registered double figures in eight of the last 10 games he has played, while he has registered 15 points or more for the seventh time this season. His eight rebounds are only surpassed by a pair of nine-board games at Merrimack in his first two seasons in NEC play.
 
Ronell Giles, Jr. (Brandywine, Md.) added eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
The Red Flash will now return home for four of its final six games. Saint Francis is 7-3 at DeGol Arena and have won five-straight games on its home court.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns to action on Thursday at home against Sacred Heart. The game is on ESPN U with a 5 p.m. tip.