NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Daemar Kelly hit a go-ahead jumper with nine seconds left and Chris Moncrief made 1 of 2 free throws after he stole the ball to help St. Francis (Pa.) stun top-seeded Central Connecticut State 46-43 on Tuesday night to win the Northeastern Conference tournament championship.
It ended the nation’s longest active win streak at 14 and earned the Red Flash their second trip to the NCAA tournament.
No. 3 seed St. Francis (16-17) had lost five in a row to the Blue Devils (25-7), including twice this season by a combined 31 points. The Red Flash won their only other conference tournament in 1991. The fourth time was the charm for head coach Rob Krimmel, who lost in three previous trips to the title game in 2017, ’19 and ’20.
St. Francis freshman Juan Cranford Jr. and Blue Devils’ junior Devin Haid both scored 14 and were the only players to reach double figures.
According to ESPN Research, the last time a Division I team won its conference tournament championship without reaching 50 points was Georgia State in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference championship game, when it beat Georgia Southern 38-36.
The two teams played to a 20-20 tie in a cold-shooting first half.
Cranford opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and he hit a jumper to give the Red Flash a 37-33 lead with 9:50 left. Central Connecticut State scored the next four points, but Riley Parker answered with a 3-pointer to put St. Francis up three with 7:20 left.
The Red Flash led by four when Haid made two free throws to end a five-minute scoring drought for the Blue Devils. He missed his next two shots before sinking a jumper to tie it at 41 with 1:42 left. Valentino Pinedo had a go-ahead basket but missed a chance at a three-point play. Joe Ostrowsky tied it for the final time with 17 seconds left. Haid missed a 3-pointer to end it.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
