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Saint Francis U welcomes Mount St. Mary's to the Stokes Center Thursday as it plays the second game in a season-long five-game home stand.

After opening its Northeast Conference slate by playing three of the league's top four teams, the Red Flash's schedule finally begins to break – but not by much.  Coming in with a 2-2 NEC record, the Mountaineers have run a similar gauntlet, defeating St. Francis Brooklyn and Wagner but falling to Robert Morris and Fairleigh Dickinson.

While the wins have yet to come, the Frankies' progress this season has been pronounced.  Consider that SFU lost to Bryant, Robert Morris and Wagner by an average of 19.2 points last season.  This season, the average margin of defeat against those teams has been whittled to 7.0.

Mount St. Mary's has won the last six meetings in the series dating back to the 2009-10 season.  In all, the Mount has taken 14 of the last 15 decisions between the two schools, but SFU still holds a 16-10 edge in Loretto.

Saint Francis is still searching for its first win in DeGol Arena this season.