LEXINGTON, Va. - Clinging to a one-point lead with 41 seconds remaining in regulation, St. Francis hit four straight free throws down the stretch to hold off VMI 65-62 in a Sunday afternoon basketball contest at Cameron Hall.
In total, St. Francis (3-5, 0-1 NEC) made five of its final six free throws to nail down the victory. Trailing by five with three seconds left in the game, freshman Chi Chi Ezekwe (Vicksburg, Miss. / Warren Central) finished off a VMI fast break to cut the St. Francis lead to three. However, sophomore Red Flash guard Darshan Luckey (Baltimore, Md. / Southern) connected on one of two free throws to put the game out of reach for VMI (2-6).
Senior point guard Richard Little (Fort Washington, Md. / Oxon Hill) kept the Keydets in the game late, scoring 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Little connected on two game-tying layups with under five-and-a-half minutes left in the game and then knocked down a three-point basket at the 1:25 mark to cut VMI's deficit to two.
The Keydets, who never held the lead in the second half, trailed by as much as 11 with 2:57 left in the first half.
Little also led the Keydets in assists with six, including his 481st career assist to break the school's all-time record, formerly held by Mike Huffman (1983-86).
"I'm proud of our players," said VMI head coach Bart Bellairs. "We did some good things, but just couldn't get over the hump. When we ran our offense, we played very well. However, every once in a while we hit the panic button."
St. Francis guard Darshan Luckey led all scorers with 21 points while junior Red Flash forward Jason Osborne (Randallstown, Md. / Rice (N.Y.)) shot 8 of 11 from the field for 18 points, tying a career-high, and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
"Luckey is a heck of a player," Bellairs added. "(Head coach) Bobby (Jones) does a great job coaching their team."
Junior Tim Allmond {Frederickburg, Va. / Massaponax) was the Keydets' second highest scorer with 12 points, but picked up his third and fourth fouls in a little over two minutes early in the second half. As a result, the center spent most the half on the bench. Allmond eventually fouled out with 34 seconds remaining in the game.
VMI switched from man-to-man to zone defense in the second half, and held the Red Flash to just a .360 shooting percentage.
The win was the second in a row for St. Francis, who beat American, 75-63 on Thursday night in Loretto, Pa.
VMI travels to the University of Louisville to take on the 20th-ranked Cardinals Tuesday night. Tip-off at Freedom Hall will be at 7:30 p.m.

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