Up Next: Saint Francis won its third straight game in impressive fashion on Thursday night, bouncing back from a 17-point deficit to stun visiting Quinnipiac, 73-68. The Bobcats entered DeGol Arena with a four-game winning streak, and 12 wins in their last 13 games. Quinnipiac, which is in second-place in the Northeast Conference, opened a big first half lead, only to see Saint Francis chip away and win the game. The Red Flash will now try to carry the momentum into another crucial Northeast Conference match-up vs. Sacred Heart, at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Saint Francis will recognize three seniors - Kurt Hoffman (Johnstown, PA /Greater Johnstown ), Chris McFarland (Montgomery Village, MD /Riverdale Baptist) and Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) - who will be playing in their final regular season game at DeGol Arena.

TV Time: Paul Dottino (play-by-play) and Pam Roecker (color) will call the action when Saint Francis and Sacred Heart tip off in a televised contest at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised live on MSG, WWCP-Fox8 and Fox College Sports, and will be shown on tape delay at 8 p.m. on FSN-Pittsburgh. This will mark SFU's third television game of the season. The Red Flash are 1-1 in TV games this season. They lost at Ohio State, and defeated Bryant in Smithfield, R.I.

Playoff Chase: After 7 1/2 weekends of Northeast Conference battles, only two spots in the eight-team tournament have been decided. Robert Morris (14-1) and Quinnipiac (12-3), which play each other on Saturday, have secured playoff positions. However, there are still eight teams fighting for the last six spots. Three games separate third through 10th with the Red Flash sitting in a three-way tie for fifth with Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson. The top four teams in the final standings will host first-round games.
Northeast Conference Standings
    School    NEC    Pct.    Streak
1.     Robert Morris    14-1    .933    W3
2.     Quinnipiac    12-3    .800    L1
3.    Mount St. Mary's    9-6    .600    W7
    Long Island    9-6    .600    W1
5.    Monmouth    8-7    .533    W2
    Saint Francis (PA)    8-7    .533    W3
    Fairleigh Dickinson    8-7    .533    L2
8.    St. Francis-NY    7-8    .467    L3
9.    Sacred Heart    6-9    .400    L1
    Central Connecticut State    6-9    .400    L3
11.    Wagner    2-13    .133    L5
12.    Bryant    1-14    .067    W1

The Series/Last Meeting: Sacred Heart won both meetings last year, and have won seven straight games against the Red Flash, to take a 9-7 lead in the series. None of the players on the current Saint Francis roster have ever beaten the Pioneers, which have won the last seven games by an average score of 11.4 ppg.

Sizing Up The Pioneers: Picked to finish sixth in the Northeast Conference, Sacred Heart is 13-13 on the year, but has struggled over the last couple weeks to fall to 6-9 in the league. The Pioneers are coming off a 64-39 loss at Robert Morris on Thursday night, and have lost six of their last seven. Sacred Heart is 9-3 at home, but has a 3-10 record on the road. The Pioneers have won games at Hartford, Holy Cross and Bryant. Cory Hassan paces Sacred Heart, and the Northeast Conference, with 19.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 36 steals. Ryan Litke is second on the team with 13.9 ppg and 4.0 rpg, while Chauncey Hardy averages 11.9 ppg and 2.6 apg. SHU?is second in the NEC in scoring (72.8 ppg), but are last in allowing 74.0 ppg. Hardy and Litke have nailed 87 and 78 three-pointers, respectively.

Swedish Meatballs: Over the past two months, junior Sorena Orandi (Vastra Frolunda, Sweden/Solebury Prep) has begun to show the type of promise that was evident upon his arrival in Loretto. After scoring just 103 points in the first 43 games of his career (2.4 ppg), Orandi has tallied 179 points  in the last 17 games - all starts - for an average of 10.5 ppg. A native of Vastra Frolunda, Sweden, Orandi entered the season with 34 career appearances, including just one start. He tallied 72 points (2.1 ppg), 29 rebounds (0.9 rpg), 29 assists and 5 steals in those first 34 games. Since entering the starting lineup on Dec. 16 against Youngstown State, Orandi has 179 points (10.5 ppg), 55 rebounds (3.2 rpg), 44 assists (2.6 apg), and 9 steals. He is second on the team in scoring, has a team-high 44 assists and has a team-high 29 three-pointers during that span. On the season, Orandi has reached career highs in games played (26), games started (21), field goals (69), field goal attempts (167), 3-point field goals (36) and attempts (93), free throws (36) and attempts (49), points (210), rebounds (62), assists (50), steals (13) and blocks (2). Orandi's success coincides with his second season under a head coach for the first time in his playing career. He played under various head coaches in Sweden and then moved to the United States for one year of prep school, where he played for yet another different head coach. He then played under former Red Flash head coach Bobby?Jones during his initial collegiate campaign, and has now played under head coach Don Friday for two seasons.

Felder is One Fine Freshman: Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) picked up his second Choice Hotels Northeast Conference Rookie-of-the-Week award this week, after leading Saint Francis to a pair of road victories last weekend. He averaged 12.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg and shot 52.9 percent from the floor to help the Red Flash snap a 23-game road losing streak, and a 17-game NEC road losing streak. Felder is perhaps playing himself into consideration for Northeast Conference Rookie-of-the-Year honors with his play over the last seven games. SFU is 5-2 during that stretch with Felder averaging 12.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg and 1.1 spg. He is shooting 46.0 percent form the field and 50.0 percent from outside the arc during that stretch.
a Young and the Restless: Of the 5,225 minutes played over the first 26 games of the season, 3,118 (59.7 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 55.5 percent of the Red Flash scoring through 26 games.

Gunning For 100: Head coach Don Friday has been in charge of 99 career victories as head coach between Lycoming and Saint Francis. He will be looking for win No. 100 when Sacred Heart visits at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Friday compiled an 83-49 record in five seasons at Lycoming, and is now is his second season of a rebuilding job at Saint Francis.

Getting Back To Winning Ways: Saint Francis has reached double digits in wins for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Now the Red Flash have set their eyes on reaching double digits in Northest Conference wins. SFU had a combined 14 Northeast Conference victories over the last four years, but are sitting at 8-7 with three regular season games remaining. Saint Francis reached 10 conference wins on three different occasions in the past 12 years. SFU finished 10-8 in the league in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Elusive Foursome: Saint Francis has won three straight games, its longest winning streak since winning three in a row early in the 2007-08 season. The Red Flash have five winning streaks of three games (including this one) over the last seven years, but the team hasn't won four consecutive games since the 2002-03 season.