Up Next: After snapping its 23-game road losing streak at Bryant on Thursday night, Saint Francis will try to make it two wins in a row when it visits Howie Dickenman's Central Connecticut State Blue Devils at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Red Flash held Bryant to a season-low (for an SFU opponent) 14 first-half points and 34 overall points on Thursday night in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN Full Court, ESPN360, FSN-Pittsburgh, FCS-Pacific and Cox-3 Cable in Rhode Island and Connecticut. CCSU brings a 9-15 overall record into the contest, and sits tied with the Red Flash for seventh in the NEC with a 6-7 league mark.
Playoff Chase: It is going to be a wild and crazy finish over the last three weeks to determine the final seven teams to play in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament. Robert Morris, at 12-1 in the league, is the only team to clinch a spot in the playoffs with five games remaining. Quinnipiac is likely to be the next team to clinch with an 11-2 record. However, things are a bit crowded from third-place through 10th in the Northeast Conference standings. Three games separate third through 10th with Long Island and Fairleigh Dickinson (8-5) tied for third place. Mount St. Mary's and St. Francis-NY (7-6) are tied for fifth, and Monmouth, Central Connecticut State and the Red Flash (6-7) are in a three-way tie for seventh. Sacred Heart is 10th with a 5-8 mark. The top four teams in the final standings will host first-round games.
The Series/Last Meeting: Central Connecticut State swept the season series last year to take a 15-10 lead in the all-time series with Saint Francis. The Red Flash last won a game in the series on Jan. 26, 2008, which was held in Loretto. They have lost nine straight games in New Britain, Conn., dating back to a game on Jan. 3, 1998.?Ironically, SFU's last win at CCSU was a 29-point victory, 76-47. Saint Francis' 26-point, 60-34, win at Bryant on Thursday night was the largest margin of victory on the road since that 1998 win at Central Connecticut State.
Sizing Up The Blue Devils: Central Connecticut State enters Saturday's contest having won four of its last five games. Although, they lost a 69-60 loss against first-place Robert Morris, the Blue Devils turned their season around with four straight wins against Monmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson and Bryant (twice during rivalry week). CCSU head coach Howie Dickenman has done a stellar job of preparing his team despite the loss of preseason all-NEC forward Ken Horton, who was lost to injury prior to the season. CCSU is averaging 60.5 ppg and allows a Northeast Conference low of 64.1 ppg. The Blue Devils are second behind SFU in free throw percentage (.706) and their plus-1.25 turnover margin is second-best in the league. Sophomore guard Robby Ptacek has stepped up to lead the team in scoring along with junior guard Shemik Thompson. Ptacek has only played in 16 games, but he leads the team with 12.9 ppg. Thompson averages 12.7 ppg and had team highs in assists (77) and steals (46). Junior forward David Simmons leads the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg), and freshman forward Joe Efese has a team-high 29 blocks. Joe Seymore has a team-high 39 three-pointers, while Vince Rosario has made 35.
Red Flash Quick Notes:
* Saint Francis won its eighth game of the season on Thursday night, matching the team's highest win total over the past five seasons. The Red Flash also had eight wins in a 29-game schedule in 2006-07.
* SFU snapped a 23-game road losing streak at Bryant, and a 17-game Northeast Conference road losing streak.
*Saint Francis' 26-point win over Bryant on Thursday night marked the largest margin of victory in a road game since the Red Flash defeated Central Connecticut State, 76-47, on Jan. 3, 1998.
* Senior Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist), who was named NEC Player-of-the-Week for the second time this season on Feb. 1, became just the fifth player in program history to record 1,400 points and 700 rebounds during their careers. He is 9th on the school's all-time scoring list (1,415 points), and 14th-place all-time at SFU with 708 rebounds.
* The Red Flash have a 7-5 record at home, including a 5-2 mark in Northeast Conference games this season. The seven home wins are the most since the 2004-05 season. The Red Flash are also 6-3 in their last nine home games.
* With the Jan. 30, 74-73, victory vs. Long Island, the Red Flash improved to 2-0 in overtime games under second-year head coach Don Friday.
* Saint Francis has forced opponents into 95 turnovers over the last five games (19.0 per game), which is the team's best stretch of the year. The Red Flash also have 48 steals during that period (9.6 spg).
* On the season, SFU is shooting 45.9 percent at home, while it is shooting 37.6 percent on the road. The Red Flash are also a better free throw shooting team at home (.745) than they are away from DeGol Arena (.701).
* SFU is 5-2 on the season when it takes a lead into halftime. the Red Flash are 3-14 in game's that it trailed at the break.
* Saint Francis exceeded its Northeast Conference win total from a season ago by defeating St. Francis-NY on Jan. 28. SFU then exceeded its overall win total from the last two seasons by beating Long Island in overtime, on Jan. 30. With its win at Bryant on Thursday night, the Red Flash doubled last year's NEC win total.
* After scoring 103 points in the first 43 games of his career (2.4 ppg), junior Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) has tallied 159 (10.6 ppg) in the last 15 games.
* Freshman Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) tied a career high with three blocks against RMU on Feb. 4, and has 15 of his team-high 21 blocks in the past 11 games.
* The Red Flash have just one player - Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) - who ranks among the Northeast Conference's top 30 players in minutes played per game. Sweetney is 12th in averaging 31.82 mpg.
* Saint Francis leads the Northeast Conference in free throw percentage (.725), and is second in assists per game (13.00 apg) and 3-point field goal percentage (.372).
Young and the Restless: Of the 4,825 minutes played over the first 24 games of the season, 2,916 (60.4 percent) have been logged by the team's seven true freshmen, and transfers Cedric Latimer (Los Angeles, CA /Windward) and Aaron DeVane (Upper Marlboro, MD/Riverdale Baptist), who did not play last season. On Dec. 20 at Akron, seven of those nine players (DeVane and Ron Johnson did not play) accounted for a season-high 163 of 200 total minutes. Newcomers have also accounted for 55.7 percent of the Red Flash scoring through 24 games.
Shannon Leaves Team: Saint Francis head coach Don Friday announced on Thursday, Feb. 4, that freshman point guard Umar Shannon left the team for personal reasons. He will continue his academics at Saint Francis through the spring semester.
Success At The Charity Stripe: Saint Francis made a season-high 29 free throws on a season-tying 33 attempts last Saturday at Robert Morris. The 29-for-33 effort (.879) made the Red Flash the Northeast Conference's season leader in the category. SFU has made 316-of-436 attempts for a 72.5 percent success rate. The Red Flash are just ahead of Central Connecticut State (.706) and Quinnipiac (.702). They have made 97-of-128 attempts (.758) over the last five games.
