LORETTO, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team heads to Brooklyn for the weekend to face St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday and LIU Brooklyn on Saturday. The Terriers are first for the Red Flash as SFU will look to snap a five-game losing streak in the series. The Terriers won all three games last season, including a 62-48 victory in the NEC Tournament semifinals last March. The Terriers fell in the NEC Championship to Robert Morris a few days later.

The Red Flash moved to 2-0 in NEC play after defeating Sacred Heart, 84-80, on Monday night. Five Red Flash players scored in double figures for the second straight game. Those five players (Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview), Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier), Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding), Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) and Basil Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter)) were the same five players to score in double figures in the team's win over Wagner on Saturday. 

A win for the Flash on Thursday would give the team its first 3-0 start in NEC play since the 2002-03 season and its first win at St. Francis Brooklyn in three years. 

NOTES FROM SACRED HEART

• SFU moved to 2-0 in the NEC for the seventh time in program history and the second year in a row. It's the first time the Flash has went 2-0 in back-to-back seasons. 
• The win was the Flash's sixth win in its NEC home opener in seven seasons.
• Sophomore Basil Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) scored 14 points in each NEC game this weekend, just one shy of his career high. 
• The Flash shot 50 percent or better in each half for the second straight game.
• Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) hit five three pointers in the game, including three in a 93-second span early in the second half. 
• Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) recorded his fourth double-double of the season and the ninth of his career.

FLASH LOOKING FOR 3-0 NEC START

A win for the Red Flash over St. Francis Brooklyn would give the Flash its first 3-0 start in NEC play since the 2002-03 season. With the Flash's win over Sacred Heart on Monday, SFU moved to 2-0 in conference play for the seventh time since joining the NEC in 1988-89. SFU has also started 2-0 for the second straight year for the first time. The Red Flash's best-ever start in NEC play came in its championship year of 1990-91 when SFU started 6-0 on its way to a 13-3 conference mark.

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 2-0 start in January. 

BIG WEEK FOR BROWN

Greg Brown (Odenton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) was remarkably consistent in SFU's three games last week, scoring 18, 19 and 19 points as the Flash started 2-0 in NEC play for the second consecutive season. Brown scored 11 points in the second half of SFU's 73-65 win over Wagner on Saturday. On Monday night, Brown had 12 points in the second half as the Flash used an extended run to hold off a late surge by the Pioneers in an 84-80 victory. Brown also averaged 3.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds in the three games.

BLACKMON EMERGES

In two games off the bench and a start against Sacred Heart, Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) shot better than 50 percent in scoring 9, 12 and 13 points as the Flash won its first two NEC games. Besides the points, Blackmon also recorded seven steals in the three games while also averaging four rebounds per game. Blackmon earned his second start of the season in the win Monday over Sacred Heart.

ABOUT ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN

The defending NEC regular season champions, the Terriers started its 2015-16 NEC schedule with a pair of road losses last weekend. SFBK lost at Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, 86-77, before losing in overtime at Mount St. Mary's, 44-40, on Monday night. The Terriers shared two common opponents with the Red Flash in non-conference play, losing to NJIT, 92-86, and Albany, 71-66. 

Though it lost several pieces from last season's team, St. Francis Brooklyn still has some pieces from that regular season title team. Tyreek Jewell is the team's leading scorer through 15 games, averaging 12.2 points per game. Chris Hooper is second on the team with 10.7 points per game. Jewell and Hooper are tied for second on the Terriers in rebounding, averaging 5.5 boards per game. Amdy Fall leads the Terriers on the glass (6.7 rpg) and is tied with Hooper for the team lead in blocks with 25 apiece.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Flash plays LIU Brooklyn on Saturday before returning home for two games next weekend. St. Francis Brooklyn hosts the other half of the NEC's Pennsylvania contingent when Robert Morris comes to town on Saturday afternoon. The game with the Red Flash is the first of a stretch of four games at home out of five. After going to Bryant, the Terriers host Sacred Heart and Wagner. 

SERIES HISTORY

The Red Flash leads a tight series, 38-36, but Brooklyn has won the past five meetings including three last year. In Loretto, the Terriers won on a buzzer beater as the teams fought for first place in mid-January. After losing in Brooklyn in the return match during the regular season, the Red Flash saw its quest for an NEC title end in the NEC Tournament semifinals at the Pope Center in March.