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On Deck!
Saint Francis will close out the 2010 portion of its schedule with a tall task at Big East opponent Cincinnati. The Bearcats entered this week's games as one of just nine unbeaten teams in the nation, and are receiving votes in most national polls. The Red Flash are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak that spans the month of the December, plus two games in November. Thursday's game will be broadcast live on The EDGE?1400 AM, and a link to listen will be available at www.myedgeradio.com.

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. Cincinnati was founded in 1788 by John Cleves Symmes and Colonel Robert Patterson. Surveyor John Filson (also the author of The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone) named it "Losantiville" from four terms, each of a different language, meaning "the city opposite the mouth of the Licking River". Ville is French for "city", anti is Greek for "opposite", os is Latin for "mouth", and "L" was all that was included of "Licking River". In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to "Cincinnati" in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was a member. The society honored General George Washington, who was considered a latter day Cincinnatus, the Roman farmer who was called to serve Rome as dictator, an office which he resigned after completing his task of defeating the Aequians. To this day, Cincinnati in particular, and Ohio in general, are homes to a statistically significant number of descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers who were granted lands in the state as payment for their war service.

Series vs. Cincinnati
Cincinnati is 2-0 against the Red Flash all-time, and was the opponent for perhaps the most memorable game in program history. Saint Francis dropped a 96-91 overtime contest against the Bearcats on Mar. 19, 1955, in the third-place game of the National Invitation Tournament. That game marked the final collegiate game for Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Maurice Stokes, who scored 31 points against future NBA teammate Jack Twyman at Madison Square Garden. Stokes was named MVP of that tournament. The two teams also met during SFU's historic NCAA Tournament season in 1990-91.
Sizing Up The Bearcats
Cincinnati entered this week as one of just nine unbeaten teams in the nation. The Bearcats are 11-0, and receiving votes in most national polls, after Tuesday night's 64-48 victory over Miami (Ohio). UC features a balanced scoring attack with Dion Dixon leading the way at 13.3 ppg, while Yancy Gates (10.8 ppg) and Cashmere Wright (10.4 ppg) figure in the double digit scoring as well. Ibrahima Thomas averages a team-high 7.0 rpg, and Gates pulls down 6.7 rpg. The Bearcats averages 73.7 ppg, and allows opponents a stingy 53.6 ppg on the season. Cincinnati also had a plus-8.1 rebounding edge on opponents in 2010-11.

Inside The Box Score
Saint Francis buckled down played perhaps its best all-around game of the season in a  tough 61-57 defeat against Drexel last Saturday night. SFU led for much of the second half before the Dragons went on a 7-0 run around the 8:00 mark. Here is a closer look and some notes from the box score:
- Saint Francis shot 46.8 percent from the field, marking the first time in seven games it shot above its season average (.406).
- After shooting 11-of-58 (.190) from outside the arc during a four-game span, the Red Flash are 15-of-32 (.469) over their last two games.
- SFU had a season-low 22 rebounds after securing a previous season-low 27 in its game against Ohio, and were beaten on the boards for the fourth straight game (36-22).
- Saint Francis held the Dragons to a 3-of-13 (.231) effort from outside the 3-point line, a season-low shooting percentage for an opponent in 2010-11.
- Sophomore Anthony Ervin (Chesterfield, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) had a career-high 20 points against Drexel. He was 9-of-15 from the field and 2-of-4 from outside the arc, and added 3 assists.
- Sophomore Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) had his second double-digit scoring effort of the season with 10 points to go along with a season-tying 6 assists and 2 steals.
- Senior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
- Drexel made 20-of-34 free throw attempts, while the Red Flash were 8-of-12 at DeGol Arena.

Rebounding Improvement
Despite being out-rebounded in their last four 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 7.4 rpg, which ranks fifth in the Northeast Conference. As a team, Saint Francis ranks sixth with 33.9 offensive rpg, third with 34.9 defensive rpg, and fourth with a -1.0 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 29.3 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 last Wednesday. SFU is 15-of-32 from outside the arc in its past two games.

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 62.1 percent (1367 of 2200) 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.