Red Flash Media Notes

LORETTO, Pa. - The Saint Francis Red Flash hits the road this weekend with a first stop in New Britain, Conn., to face the Central Connecticut Blue Devils on Thursday night. The 9 p.m. tip will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.

The Flash and Blue Devils just played last Thursday in what ended in a 74-63 Saint Francis victory. The Flash led the game by as many as 35 points in the second half before CCSU did some late scoreboard mending.

 THREE THINGS TO KNOW

• Saturday's loss to LIU Brooklyn is the first for SFU when scoring at least 70 points. SFU is now 8-1 in those games.
• There was a huge disparity in total bench points scored between Thursday and Saturday. Against CCSU, the Flash (6) and Blue Devils (3) combined for just nine bench points. On Saturday, the SFU and LIU benches had 61 of the 153 points.
• Landon Atterberry's layup just before the horn put LIU ahead, 32-31, at halftime. The Flash lost the game and dropped to 1-9 when trailing at halftime.

PUNCHING THE CLOCK FOR OVERTIME  

• The Flash rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half against LIU Brooklyn on Saturday to force overtime. It was the first overtime game for the Flash in nearly two years. The Flash lost at Central Connecticut in double overtime Feb. 28, 2013. SFU has lost its previous three overtime contests dating back to a win at Sacred Heart on Jan. 27, 2011.
• Looking forward to Thursday's game, the Flash will be looking to break a longer streak in the games following an overtime contest. Saint Francis has lost six straight games in the game following an overtime game. The last win in a game following an overtime game came on Jan. 26, 2008, against Central Connecticut. The Flash won a triple overtime thriller, 92-84, against St. Francis Brooklyn two days prior.

HARMON'S STRONG WEEK

• On Thursday, point guard Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) scored all 11 of his points against Central Connecticut in the first 7:39 of the game. His back-to-back three pointers to finish his scoring gave the Flash a 20-point lead with 12:21 to play. On Saturday, Harmon tied his career high with seven assists as the Flash came back from a double-digit second half deficit to send the game to overtime.

FLASH STREAKING OVER THE BLUE DEVILS

• With the Red Flash's win over CCSU last Thursday, the Flash earned its first three-game winning streak over the Blue Devils since 1996-98. A win for the Flash on Thursday would give Saint Francis its first-ever four game winning streak over Central Connecticut. Saint Francis is 15-19 all-time against the Blue Devils.

NEC RPI RANKINGS

• The Red Flash is currently ranked 179th in the nation in the RPI, the second-best team in the NEC. St. Francis Brooklyn is currently ranked one spot ahead of the Flash at 178. Mount St. Mary's is one spot behind SFU at 180. The RPI takes into account several measurements of a team's ability and is used by the NCAA Selection Committee.

ALL FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES

• All five SFU starters scored in double figures on Thursday against CCSU, led by Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston )'s 18 points. Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) and Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) each had double-doubles in the win. Drinnon had 15 points and 11 rebounds while Brown added 14 points and 11 boards. The pair followed that up with double-doubles in the Flash's overtime loss against LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, 79-74. Brown had 22 points and 12 rebounds while Drinnon recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) is playing arguably his best basketball of the season. He has recorded double-doubles in five consecutive games and in six of his past seven contests. He is averaging 16.9 points and 11 rebounds per game in those past seven games.

WINNING REGULAR SEASON WITH NEXT VICTORY

• The Red Flash's next win will give the team its first winning regular season in 10 years. The 2004-05 Saint Francis team finished 15-13 and 10-8 in conference play. Saint Francis will need two wins in its final four conference games to clinch a winning NEC record. The 2004-05 season was also the last winning NEC record for the team.