Fairleigh Dickinson beats St. Francis (Pa) 71-59

LORETTO, Pa. (AP) Marques Townes scored nine of his 12 points in the first half, and Fairleigh Dickinson built a big first-half lead and beat St. Francis (Pa.) 71-59 on Thursday night.

Townes made three layups, a free throw and scored on a dunk as the Knights opened on a 25-9 run, and stretched it to 39-15 with three minutes left in the first half.

Earl Potts Jr. had 12 points for Fairleigh Dickinson (8-8, 4-1 Northeast Conference). Stephan Jiggetts added 11.

Ronnie Drinnon scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and four assists to lead St. Francis (7-9, 3-2). Greg Brown shot just 3 of 15 from the floor but made 7 of 8 free throws to finish with 13 points. Basil Thompson added 12 points and Malik Harmon 11.

St. Francis pulled to 58-50 with 4:31 left. The Knights made 9 of their last 13 shots to seal it.