College

St. Francis (PA) stuns Pitt for first-ever win over Panthers

PITTSBURGH — Ramiir Dixon-Conover scored 21 points and Myles Thompson scored 13 with eight rebounds and St. Francis (PA) shocked Pittsburgh in an 80-70 win Wednesday night.

It’s the first time in program history St. Francis has beaten Pitt. The Red Flash entered the game with an 0-29 record against the Panthers.

The Red Flash (1-0) lost their top-two scorers — Isaiah Blackmon and Keith Braxton — from last year’s 22-win team. Nine players on the Red Flash didn’t appear in a game last season for Saint Francis. Of that group, four are true freshmen, one is a transfer, and four redshirted last year.

Despite that, Pitt led for just 33 seconds on Wednesday and Thompson’s 3-pointer less than two minutes in gave St. Francis a 5-2 lead and it never trailed again.

Dixon-Conover’s layup with 10:32 before halftime gave the Red Flash their first double-digit lead at 23-12. St. Francis built a 46-33 halftime lead and shot 17 of 34. Pitt shot 13 of 37 in the first half.

Maxwell Land’s 3-pointer with 17:09 left capped a 9-2 St. Francis run for a 55-35 lead. Pitt never got within eight points the rest of the way.

Au’Diese Toney led the Panthers (0-1) with 20 points.