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On Deck!
Saint Francis returns to DeGol Arena after a disappointing six-game road swing. The Red Flash will face a red shot Drexel Dragons team that is fresh off an upset at No. 20 Louisville. Saint Francis is hoping its winning ways continue at DeGol Arena, where it has won 12 of its last 17 games. The game can be heard live on The EDGE 1400 AM (Loretto), The EDGE 850 AM (Johnstown) and www.myedgeradio.com.
All-Access Live Video
With the launch of Saint Francis' new athletics website, www.SFUathletics.com, fans can now view improved live video of all home men's and women's basketball contests. With the improved website and video, there will be a minimal fee charged to access games. A single-game fee of $6.95 gives fans 24-hour access to the event and its archive. A monthly fee is $10.95, and a yearly all-sports pass is $64.95. Fans can purchase the remaining men's basketball package for $29.95.
History Lesson
The Saint Francis radio team of Bernie Jubeck and Joe Vesnesky love their history, so we dedicate this note to the voices of the Red Flash. Drexel University is a private coeducational university with the main campus located in the University City area within Philadelphia. It was founded in 1891 as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted Philadelphia financier and philanthropist. Drexel's school mascot is a dragon known as “Mario the Magnificent,” named so in honor of Mario V. Mascioli, an alumnus and former member of the Board of Trustees. To receive good grades on exams, a tradition is to rub the toe of the bronze “Waterboy” statue located in the Main Building atrium. Although the rest of the bronze statue has developed a dark brown patina over the years, the toe has remained highly polished and shines like new.
Series vs. Drexel
Drexel leads the all-time series with Saint Francis, 4-1, after defeating the Red Flash 57-35 last year in Philadelphia. The series started in 1981-82 with a two-game series, and another beginning in 1991-92.
Sizing Up The Dragons
Drexel is coming off an impressive 52-46 upset at No. 20 Louisville to improve to 7-1 on the season. The Dragons are 4-1 on the road. After holding the Cardinals to just 46 points, Drexel is allowing opponents to score 57.8 ppg on average, while tallying 68.4 ppg. The Dragons have a plus-10.6 ppg scoring margin, and are outrebounding opponents at a 14.3 rpg clip. Chris Fouch comes off the bench as the team's leading scorer (20.9) and is joined by Samme Givens (10.9 ppg) and Gerald Colds (10.0 ppg) in double digit scoring. Givens (11.3 rpg) and Daryl McCoy (9.4 rpg) are the team's leading rebounders.
Inside The Box Score
Saint Francis warmed up from outside the arc with a season-high 10 three-pointers at Ohio. However, the Bobcats used a 12-0 first half run to take command in an 87-58 defeat of the Red Flash. Here is a closer look and some notes from the box score:
- Saint Francis shot 37.0 percent from the field, marking the sixth straight game (all on the road) it shot below its season average (.401).
- After shooting 11-of-58 (.190) from outside the arc in their previous four games, the Red Flash were 10-of-22 (.455) against the Bobcats.
- SFU had a season-low 27 rebounds, and were beaten on the boards (43-27) for the third straight game.
- Ohio scored 51 first half points against the Red Flash, most by any opponent in any half this season. The Bobcats also shot 52.5 percent from the field, and 51.7 percent from outside the arc, highest of any opponent this season.
- Saint Francis had a season-high 9 steals against OU, including a career-tying 5 by sophomore Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy).
- Sophomore Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) had his third straight, and fourth career double-double, with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He had a career-high five 3-pointers on eight attempts.
Rebounding Improvement
Despite being out-rebounded in their last three games, the Red Flash have seen a significant improvment on the boards this season. Sophomore forward Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) leads the team with 7.9 rpg, which ranks third in the Northeast Conference. As a team, Saint Francis ranks sixth with 35.1 offensive rpg, third with 34.8 defensive rpg, and fourth with a plus-0.3 rebounding margin. During the 2009-10 season, the Red Flash finished 11th in offensive rebounds (30.7 orpg), 4th in defensive rebounds (34.0 drpg), and 10th in rebounding margin (-3.3).
3-Point Struggles
Saint?Francis had 203 three-pointers (6.77 per game) during the 2009-10 season, which was good for third in program history, and ranked second in the Northeast Conference with a 36.8 three-point field goal percentage. However, SFU has struggled from long distance so far this season. The Red Flash are averaging just 5.00 field goals per game from outside the arc, and rank 10th in the league with a 28.1 three-point field goal percentage. The Red Flash were just 11-of-58 (.190) from outside the arc (.182) in four games before hitting a season-high 10 on 22 attempts (.455) at Ohio.
Growing Pains
As one of the youngest Division I teams in the country, Saint Francis may be suffering through some growing pains as head coach Don Friday is in the midst of a rebuilding process. With just 11 total years of Division I experience on the roster heading into 2010-11, most of SFU's minutes are being played by student-athletes with less than two years of experience. The five Red Flash sophomores have accounted for 61.8 percent (1237 of 2000) of the minutes played so far this season. Add in the six newcomers who have seen action, including junior transfer Jon Taylor (Bowie, Md./Montgomery College-Germantown), and 79.5 percent of the minutes played are being contributed by first or second-year Division I players.
Super Sophomores
As previously mentioned, Saint Francis' five sophomores are putting in significant minutes this season. SFU has started four sophomores in seven of its 10 games this season, and the five second-year players have contributed 1237 of 2000 possible minutes thus far. Most of the team's production is also coming from the five players. Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs), Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh), Tony?Peters and Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) have scored 418 of 605 points and have pulled down 184 of 351 rebounds, accounting for 69.1 percent of the team's offense and 52.4 of its rebounds.