Saint Francis Media Notes
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LORETTO, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team finishes its season-long three-game road swing with a trip to Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday night. The teams are currently tied for second place in the NEC along with Wagner, all with 5-3 records. Mount St. Mary's leads the conference with a 6-2 record. 

The Red Flash moved to 5-3 in league play with a pair of road victories last weekend at Bryant and Central Connecticut. The Flash came back from down 19 points to win at Bryant, 71-65, and pulled away in the second half at CCSU to beat the Blue Devils, 79-64. 

NOTES FROM CENTRAL CONNECTICUT

• The win gave the Flash three straight road wins in NEC play for the first time ever.
• It's SFU's first three-game road winning streak since Jan. 1981.
• Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) scored a season/career-high 20 points.
• Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) recorded his ninth double-double of the season.
• Drinnon's 18 points tied a season high.
• SFU moved to 8-1 this season when leading at halftime.

BLACKMON NEC PLAYER AND ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

The NEC announced Monday that freshman guard Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) has been named both the NEC Player of the Week and the NEC Rookie of the Week.

Blackmon was in can't-miss mode last week, shooting an astounding 89.5 percent from the field en-route to averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in just 49 minutes off the bench. In doing so, Blackmon becomes just the fourth freshman in league history to be named NEC Player of the Week, joining Sacred Heart's Cane Broome (12/8/14), CCSU's Corsley Edwards (11/30/98) and Wagner's Miladin Mutavdzic (2/2/92).

In Saturday's 79-64 victory over Central Connecticut, Blackmon was a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor, finishing with 20 points and seven boards. The nine makes without a miss tied for the best single-game performance in the NEC this season against a Division I opponent. Blackmon ranks third among NEC freshmen with 10.6 points per game. He is fifth in the league in field goal percentage and is the only true guard in the top-10, converting at a 57.3 percent clip.

ROAD WARRIORS

Saint Francis has experienced something over the past few weeks that it hasn't in more than a generation. The Red Flash is currently on a three-game road winning streak for the first time since the 1980-81 season. SFU won four games in a row on the road that season, a feat the Flash can match with a win at Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday night. 

EPIC COMEBACK

The Red Flash found itself trailing by 19 points in the first half at Bryant last Thursday and hit the locker room trailing, 45-28. SFU was being outshot 59.3 percent to 31 percent. Coming into the game, the Flash was also 0-9 this season when trailing at halftime. That script flipped directly on its head in the second half. Saint Francis shot 61.5 percent from the floor in the second half, including 6-for-10 from three-point range. Bryant shot just 30.4 percent from the floor and 0-for-8 from three-point range in the second. The Flash outscored Bryant, 43-20, in the second half, including 16 points from Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte). The 17-point halftime comeback tied for the fourth largest in the NCAA up to that point in the season.

DRINNON MOVING UP REBOUNDING LIST

Senior Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview)'s ten rebounds at Central Connecticut moved him into 16th place on the school's all-time rebounding list, passing with Joe Anderson (1987-91). Drinnon now has 676 career rebounds, and Jeff Hamilton (1981-85) is next on the list with 711 rebounds. Drinnon is currently ranked 23rd in the nation with nine double-doubles. He is also second in the NEC in total rebounds, rebounds per game, and offensive rebounds per game.

MILLAUD-MEUNIER AMONG ELITE AT FREE THROW LINE

Senior Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) is shooting 90.9 percent from the free throw line this season, good for tops in the NEC and third in the country. He trails the current national leader, Duke's Luke Kennard, by less than one percent. Nick Leasure holds the school record for free throw percentage in a season with a minimum of 50 attempts, shooting 91.3 percent in 1978-79.

ABOUT FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON

The Knights have lost two of its past three games after defeating the Red Flash, 71-59, in Loretto on Jan. 14. In the three games since, FDU lost to Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary's while defeating LIU Brooklyn, 101-95. 

Four FDU players are scoring in double figures, led by Darian Anderson's 15.3 points per game. Earl Potts, Jr., is scoring 14.2 points per game while leading the team in rebounding at 5.5 boards per game. Stephan Jiggetts scores 11.3 points per game, and Marques Townes averages 11.1 points per game. Freshman Mike Holloway is second on the team with 5.3 rebounds per game while scoring 8.4 points per game.

LOOKING AHEAD

After Thursday's game, Fairleigh Dickinson plays four in a row on the road. The Knights face both Brooklyn schools, Wagner and Bryant.

SERIES HISTORY

The Knights snapped a five-game losing streak to Saint Francis with its 71-59 victory over the Red Flash two weeks ago. FDU led by as many as 24 in the first half, and the Knights withstood a run in the second half that saw SFU take the lead back into single digits. The Knights opened the game shooting 76.9 percent from the field, making 10 of their first 13 shots to jump out early on Saint Francis.

Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) led the Flash with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) (13), Basil Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) (12) and Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) (11) all finished in double figures for the Flash.