Saint Francis Media Notes
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LORETTO, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team begins a big home weekend with a Thursday night contest against Fairleigh Dickinson at DeGol Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. The teams enter action with identical 7-8 records and, more importantly, are also tied with 3-1 records in Northeast Conference play. That places the two teams among three other for a five-way tie for first place. Wagner, Bryant and Mount St. Mary's are all also tied for first with 3-1 records. SFU hosts Mount St. Mary's on Saturday. 

Saint Francis moved to 3-1 with a 72-65 victory at LIU Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. Five Red Flash players scored in double figures, led by Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding)'s 14 points. Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) recorded his third consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Saint Francis held LIU Brooklyn to 29 rebounds, its second lowest number allowed this season. 

NOTES FROM LIU BROOKLYN

• After seven straight losses from the 2004-05 season through the 2012-13 season at LIU Brooklyn, the Red Flash has now won two of its past three there. 
• Basil Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) set a new career high with nine rebounds.
• Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) recorded his third straight double-double and sixth of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• SFU held LIU Brooklyn to just 29 rebounds, its second fewest allowed this season. SFU held American to 27 rebounds. 

THOMPSON PRODUCES OFF THE BENCH

Sophomore Basil Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) has reached double figures five times this season after hitting that mark once as a freshman. Three of those double-figure outputs have come in the Flash's three NEC wins so far this month. Thompson also set a career high with nine rebounds in Saturday's win at LIU Brooklyn. His double-digit scoring performance as a freshman came against Fairleigh Dickinson, a 13-point effort.

OWNING THE ARC

The Red Flash are the top team in the NEC in both three-point field goal percentage (35.9 percent) and in defensive three-point field goal percentage (31.0). That defensive number is 46th in the nation out of 346 teams. 

DRINNON A FORCE ON THE BOARDS

Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) has 40 double-digit rebounding games in his career, and six of those have come this season. Drinnon is second in the NEC and 57th in the nation in rebounds per game, averaging 8.7 board per game. Drinnon has 131 rebounds this season and 636 for his career. He's just 17 rebounds away from moving into a tie for 18th place on the school's career rebounding list. William Saller (1952-56) currently resides in 18th place with 653 career rebounds. Maurice Stokes is the school's all-time rebounding leader with 1,819 rebounds.

SIMILARITIES IN SCORING

Saint Francis has won three NEC games this month, and the same five players have reached 10-plus points in all three of those games. Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding), Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier), Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte), Basil Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) and Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) have all reached double digits in points in all three wins. Drinnon has three double-doubles in NEC play, though they've come in the past three games where SFU has went 2-1.

MILLAUD-MEUNIER AMONG NATIONAL FREE THROW LEADERS

Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) leads the Northeast Conference from the free throw line this season, shooting 89.1 percent. He's 15th in the nation with that number. The current national leader at the stripe is Monmouth's Je'Lon Hornbeak at 94.9 percent.

JANUARY IMPROVEMENTS

The Red Flash has seen marked improvements in January in head coach Rob Krimmel's tenure as head coach. Saint Francis was 1-8 in his first season of 2012-13, improved to 3-5 in 2013-14 and finished the month 6-4 last season. Corresponding with the first month of NEC play, the team's conference record has improved every year, as well. The Flash has went 5-13, 7-9 and 9-9 in his three years as the head coach. The Flash is off to a 3-1 start in January. 

ABOUT FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON

Fairleigh Dickinson enters Thursday's game with an identical record as the Red Flash. The Knights are 7-8 overall and 3-1 in NEC play as part of the five-way tie for first place. The Knights won both games last weekend, defeating Sacred Heart, 80-68, and Central Connecticut, 92-73. 

Fairleigh Dickinson is led by Earl Potts, Jr., the reigning NEC Player of the Week. Potts is averaging 16.1 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game, both team highs. Three other Knights average double figures in scoring including Darian Anderson (15.1 ppg), Stephan Jiggetts (11.1) and Marques Townes (10.0). Mike Holloway is just behind with 8.6 points per game, and he is second on the team in rebounding at 5.3 boards per game. Holloway was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for his performance in the team's two wins. 

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Francis hosts Mount St. Mary's at noon on Saturday. Fairleigh Dickinson travels to Robert Morris on Saturday before returning home for three games. The third game of that homestand is against the Red Flash on Jan. 28.

SERIES HISTORY

SFU is 45-39 all-time against Fairleigh Dickinson and has won five straight games. The Flash took both meetings against the Knights last year.