Saint Francis Media Notes
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LORETTO, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team returns to action following its Christmas break on Wednesday night when NJIT comes to Loretto. Tip is set for 7 p.m. in the Red Flash's final non-conference game of the 2015-16 season.Â
Saint Francis will look to improve to 4-0 at DeGol Arena this season, though the Flash did suffer its first "home" loss of the season at the Cambria County War Memorial against Duquesne earlier this month. Following that game against the Dukes, SFU split a pair of road games, defeating Binghamton before losing at Albany on Dec. 19 in the team's last game.
The three Red Flash seniors led the way at Albany in scoring with Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) pouring in a season-high 23 points. Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) followed with 11 points, and Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) had his fifth straight double-digit scoring effort with 10 points.Â
NOTES FROM ALBANY
- The meeting was just the second between the two schools and the first at Albany. SFU defeated the Great Danes last season in the school's first-ever meeting.
- The game was delayed for 45 minutes during the first half when a fire alarm was activated inside the arena forcing the building to be evacuated.Â
- Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) scored a season-high 23 points, his second 20-plus point effort of the season. He came just one point shy of his previous career-high of 24 at Mount St. Mary's in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals last year. His five three pointers are a new career high.
- Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) scored 10 points to give him five straight double-digit scoring games. He has seven for the season, already two more than his total from the 2014-15 season.
- Saint Francis went 10-for-23 from three-point range, marking the team's first loss with double-digit three pointers since hitting 11 in a 66-60 loss at LIU Brooklyn last February.
- The Red Flash attempted just four free throws in the game, a season low by far. The previous season low was 16 at Maryland. That is the fewest free throw attempts for the Flash in a game since going 1-for-2 at Notre Dame on Nov. 24, 2012. SFU made all four free throws at Albany.
- The Red Flash held Albany to just 2-for-11 from three-point range. That's the first win for an opponent when hitting two or fewer three pointers against SFU since Cincinnati was 2-for-14 in a season-opening, 52-37 win over the Flash last year.
- Saint Francis opened the game on a 9-0 run in the first 3:25 of the first half.
WHAT BROWN CAN DO FOR SFU
Senior guard Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) scored a season-high 23 points in the Flash's loss at Albany on Dec. 19. That gives him two 20-plus points games so far this season, matching the total from his first three years combined. Brown was 5-for-8 from three-point range, setting a new career-high in makes. Brown is averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game this season. His previous high for points per game in a season came last year at 8.2 ppg.
NOT-SO-FREE THROWS
The Red Flash had some issues in getting to the free throw line against Albany. The Flash shot just four free throws while attempting 54 field goals. Only two of those free throws came as a result of a foul on an attempted shot. The other two free throws were awarded due to a technical foul on Albany. The Flash's previous season low was 16 free throws at Maryland earlier this month. The four free throws are the fewest for the Red Flash in a game since going 1-for-2 in a loss at Notre Dame in Nov. 2012.
PERIMETER DEFENSE
The Flash held Albany to just 2-for-11 from three-point range in its loss to the Great Danes. That improved SFU's three-point defense to 29.7 percent. That's tops in the Northeast Conference and 37th in the NCAA.Â
SACRED HEART TIME CHANGE
The Red Flash's game against Sacred Heart on Jan. 4 has been changed to a 5 p.m. start from its original 7:30 start time. The men will now play the first game in a doubleheader with the SFU and SHU women.
KING JOINS TEAM
Freshman Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell) has joined the team effective Dec. 13. King, a Bishop O'Connell (Va.) graduate, brings the total number of Saint Francis freshmen to eight. King shifted to point guard from shooting guard for Bishop O'Connell last season following the graduation of current Maryland guard Melo Trimble. In that role, he became one of the top players in the D.C.-metro area.
ABOUT NJIT
NJIT enters the game with the Red Flash with a 7-6 record and is coming off an 83-61 loss to Stony Brook on Monday. Prior to that game, the Highlanders defeated St. John's, 83-74. NJIT also owns a victory over South Florida in November, 60-57.Â
NJIT has four scorers averaging in double figures. Damon Lynn leads the team with a 17.5 points per game average. Ky Howard (13.7 ppg), Tim Coleman (13.5 ppg) and Winfield Willis (10.3 ppg) join Lynn in double figures. The quartet combines to average 55 of the team's 75.5 points per game. Coleman leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game. Howard averages 5.3 rebounds per game and leads the team with five assists per game.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Red Flash moves into NEC play against Wagner on Saturday and Sacred Heart on Monday. While Saint Francis finishes its non-conference schedule with NJIT, the Highlanders still have to play two more non-league games. NJIT hosts UMBC on Jan. 2 before traveling to Yale on Jan. 6 before Atlantic Sun play begins Jan. 9 against USC Upstate.Â
SERIES HISTORY
The teams have met in each of the past two seasons with NJIT winning each of those contests. Last season, the Highlanders won in Newark, 77-65. In the team's first meeting in Loretto in January 2014, the Highlanders won, 64-56.Â