Up Next: After clinching a spot in the Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2004-05, the Red Flash will face another tough challenge in red hot Mount St. Mary's at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night. Saint Francis won an impressive 73-66 decision against the Mountaineers, back on Dec. 5, at DeGol Arena. However, MSM is the hottest team in the league with an eight-game winning streak to put themselves in a tie for third place. The outcome of Thursday's game will have major implications on the seedings for the upcoming NEC Tournament.
Playoff Chase: The eight-team Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament is beginning to take shape with six of the eight teams having clinch. Saint Francis and Fairleigh Dickinson joined the fold on Saturday by clinching a spot, while Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Mount St.?Mary's and Long Island had already staked claim to a playoff spot. Monmouth, Central Connecticut State, St. Francis-NY and Sacred Heart will fight this weekend for the final two positions.
Northeast Conference Standings
School NEC Pct. Streak
1. Robert Morris* 14-2 .875 L1
2. Quinnipiac* 13-3 .812 W1
3. Mount St. Mary's* 10-6 .625 W8
Long Island* 10-6 .625 W2
5. Saint Francis (PA)* 9-7 .562 W4
Fairleigh Dickinson* 9-7 .562 W1
7. Monmouth 8-8 .500 L1
8. Central Con. State 7-9 .438 W1
St. Francis-NY 7-9 .438 L4
10. Sacred Heart 6-10 .375 L2
11. Wagner 2-14 .138 L6
12. Bryant 1-15 .062 L1
*Qualified for the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament
The Series/Last Meeting: Saint Francis upset the Northeast Conference preseason favorite, Mount St. Mary's, by a score of 73-66 back on Dec. 5, at DeGol Arena. It was SFU's first victory over the Mountaineers, who own a 32-28 all-time advantage in the series, since Feb. 7, 2005, at DeGol Arena. MSM?had won eight straight meetings, and have now won five straight in Emmitsburg against the Red Flash.
Sizing Up The Mountaineers: Picked to win the Northeast Conference in a preseason coaches' poll, Mount St. Mary's was on the verge of not even qualifying for the league's postseason a few week's ago. However, the Mountaineers have matched their longest winning streak (eight games) of head coach Milan Brown's seven-year tenure to not only qualify for the NEC postseason, but also put themselves in position to possibly host a quarterfinal home game. The Northeast Conference's top defense is holding opponents to 63.6 ppg, and has defeated its last six opponents by an average of 22.3 ppg. Mount St. Mary's has kept opponents to 40.7 percent shooting from the field, and a 30.4 percentage from outside the arc. The Mountaineers also lead the league with 4.59 blocks per game, and are second with 7.70 steals per game. MSM senior guard Jeremy Goode is 10th in the NEC in scoring (14.3 ppg), 13th in field goal percentage (.436), fifth in assists (4.44 apg), and leads the league in steals (2.63 spg). Kelly Beidler is also in the midst of a very good season for the Mountaineers, and ranks 23rd in the league in scoring (10.5 ppg), 7th in rebounding (7.1 rpg), fifth in steals (1.67 spg), and fifth in blocked shots (1.33 bpg).
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 187 points in the last 18 games - all starts - for an average of 10.4 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 187 points (10.4 ppg), 56 rebounds (3.1 rpg), 49 assists (2.7 apg), and 10 steals. He is second on the team in scoring, has a team-high 49 assists and has a team-high 30 three-pointers during that span. On the season, Orandi has reached career highs in games played (27), games started (22), field goals (72), field goal attempts (176), 3-point field goals (37) and attempts (97), free throws (37) and attempts (54), points (218), rebounds (63), assists (55), steals (14) 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 straight, and third of the season, Choice Hotels Northeast Conference Rookie-of-the-Week award this week, after leading Saint Francis to a pair of home wins against Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart. Felder has emerged, over the past two months, as one of the top candidates for Northeast Conference Rookie-of-the-Year honors. The Red Flash have a winning record (8-7) during the 2010 calendar year, and Felder has been a major factor in SFU's success. Since the start of 2010, Felder is averaging 10.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 0.9 spg, and 0.7 spg. He is shooting 50.9 percent from the field (54-of-106) and 50.0 percent (13-of-26) during that span.
Young and the Restless: Of the 5,425 minutes played over the first 27 games of the season, 3,219 (59.3 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 55.0 percent of the Red Flash scoring through 27 games.
Milestone Win: Head coach Don Friday earned his 100th career victory on Feb. 20, 2010, in a 73-68 victory over Sacred Heart. 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 9-7 with two 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.
Four on the Floor: Saint Francis has won four straight games for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The Red Flash had five winning streaks of three games over the last seven years, but the team failed to win a fourth consecutive game until Saturday's 73-68 win over Sacred Heart. The last time Saint Francis won five straight games was in 1993-94, and the last time SFU won five straight NEC games was during the team's magical run of 1990-91, during a school-record six-game NEC winning streak.
