Loretto, Pa. – Junior guard
Samuel Hincapie (Medellin, Colombia/Gateway Legacy Prep (Mo.)/Lake Land College) tallied a career-best 18 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to an NEC-opening 84-58 victory over Saint Francis University on Friday night at DeGol Arena.
Hincapie recorded 11 of his points in the first half as he led five Dolphins in double figures, while adding six rebounds and four assists. Redshirt junior guard
Trent Mosquera (Boston, Mass./Belmont Hill School) posted nine of his 15 points after halftime and pulled down five rebounds. Sophomore guard
Jakob Blakley (Elgin, Ill./Walter Payton Preparatory) went 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 from the foul line en route to 13 points, while adding a season-best five rebounds. Graduate student forward
Shilo Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central/Vincennes/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) turned in 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Junior guard
Tennessee Rainwater (Davenport, Wash./Davenport/Utah Tech) recorded 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Zion Russell led the Red Flash in the loss with 12 points, five assists and three steals. Victor Payne posted 11 points, five rebounds and two steals. Skylar Wicks, who entered the game averaging 19.1 points to rank second in the conference, was held to 2-for-15 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 from three-point and he finished with nine points.
The Red Flash opened the game with the first five points on a jumper by Payne and a three-pointer by Ahmad Harrison.
The Dolphins countered with 10 of the next 12 points over five minutes to take their first lead of the game. Hincapie scored seven of the points around a three-pointer from Blakley.
The teams exchanged the lead five times over the next six minutes with the Red Flash's final lead coming at 25-21 with 5:45 remaining.
Le Moyne responded with seven straight points to take the lead for good and 18 of the final 20 points of the half. Rainwater made a three-pointer, Hincapie converted a jumper and Jackson had a dunk to put the Dolphins in front. Following a Wicks free throw, Blakley and Mosquera buried three-pointers around a Russell free throw, Jackson converted a foul shot, Hincapie made a jumper and then sophomore guard
Jakai Sanders (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eagle Academy/Saint Peter's) finished off the scoring with a dunk for a 39-27 lead at halftime.
Saint Francis scored eight of the first 12 points of the second half to cut its deficit to single digits. Wicks made a jumper and then Payne had consecutive three-pointers to get the Red Flash within 43-35 with 17:45 left.
Le Moyne tallied 12 of the next 14 points to push its lead to 18 at 55-37 with 13:11 to play. Blakley and Mosquera made three-pointers around a Wicks free throw. After Russell and Jackson traded free throws, Jackson had a put-back lay-up and Hincapie drained a three-pointer.
Saint Francis closed within 14 for the final time with 12:01 left following three-pointers by Harrison and Payne around a Jackson dunk and was within 69-52 with 6:24 remaining following back-and-forth action, but the Dolphins answered with 15 straight points to take their largest lead of the game, 84-52, with 1:17. Hincapie scored the first four points, Mosquera made a lay-up, freshman guard
Eli Greenberg (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and redshirt sophomore forward
Trevor Roe (Syracuse, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius/Radford) drilled three-pointers, graduate student guard
Sam Donnelly (Vernon, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) made a foul shot and then Roe finished off the streak with a put-back lay-up.
The Red Flash scored the final six points to deliver the final score.
Le Moyne (6-8, 1-0 NEC), which won at Saint Francis for the second time in three years, continues its Western Pennsylvania road trip at Mercyhurst University on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
