St. Frances (Baltimore, MD) scored an impressive 74-66 come-from-behind victory over St. Edward (Lakewood, OH) in a consolation bracket game of the 2009 Beach Ball Classic.

St. Francis (7-4) advances to the semifinal round of the consolation bracket and wil play the winner of the Daniel (SC)-Bishop O'Connell (VA) matchup for a ticket to the consolation title game.

The Panthers trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and 42-31 at halftime.  St. Edward (4-2) connected on 63.6 percent from the field (14-of-22) in the opening 16-minute period.

St. Frances quickly erased the double-digit lead by scoring the first eight points of teh second half, closing the gap to 42-39 with 14:45 on the clock.  The Panthers took their first led of the game at 47-46 on Sam Cassell, Jr.'s 3-pointer with 12:02 to play.

After trading baskets over the next five minutes, St. Frances used an 11-3 late in the contest to seal the victory.  With the game tied at 59-59, five St. Frances players shared the scoring load during the 11-3 spurt.  Cassell, Jr. led the way during the run with four points and capped the run with a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 70-62 advantage with 1:13 to play.

St. Frances was led by Dante Holmes' 22 points, while Cassell, Jr. added 19 points.  St. Edward was paced by Kyle Pisco's 14 points and four assists.

Box Score

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