Mirror photo by J.D. Cavrich St. Francis’ Cedric Latimer tries to shoot over Tony Johnson Thursday.

LORETTO — The St. Francis Red Flash fought an uphill battle all night and as soon as they would get close to the top, Lafayette would knock them back down. Despite shooting close to 60 percent from the field the Red Flash could not overcome the cagey, disciplined Leopards and were beaten, 88-77, Thursday night at the DeGol Arena. Red Flash senior swingman Devin Sweetney poured in a game-high 30 points and junior Cedric Latimer added a career-high 23 points, but the rest of the team only managed to score a combined 24 points and couldn’t keep pace with the high-scoring Leopards. “Congratulate Lafayette,” St. Francis coach Don Friday said. “They like to play fast. The spread you out and they drive and kick it. They want a high possession game and they really punched it down our throats.” St. Francis played well offensively, but it still couldn’t keep up with the high-powered Lafayette offense. The Leopards converted 31-of-47 shots from the floor for a sizzling 66 percent.