LORETTO, Pa. -- Earl Brown grabbed a career-high 25 rebounds and scored 16 points as St. Francis (Pa.) pulled away from a 27-all halftime tie to beat Central Connecticut State 67-60 for its first victory of the season in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams.

Brown's 25 rebounds are the most in a Division I game since Morgan State's Kevin Thompson grabbed 25 boards against Towson on Dec. 22, 2009. The 6-foot-6 Red Flash sophomore had 12 boards and 11 points in St. Francis' last game against Cornell for his second-career double-double. He had just 19 rebounds in seven games prior to that this season.

Umar Shannon led the Red Flash (1-11) in scoring with 19 points and had eight assists. Ronnie Drinnon and Dominique Major added 12 points apiece.

Kyle Vinales scored 23 points for CCSU (4-8), and Matt Hunter had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

St. Francis won the rebound battle 43-33.

Brown scored the first six points of the second half to lift the Red Flash to a 33-27 lead 3:13 in. Major's 3-pointer with 12:36 to go established a 43-34 advantage.

The Red Flash led 50-39 on Brown's dunk with 8:35 to go, and Shannon's jumper pushed it to 55-42 with 6:49 left.