Flash Points:

• Saint Francis men's basketball welcomes Chatham to DeGol Arena on Saturday night for its home opener.
• Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on NEC Front Row.
• The Red Flash is looking for its first win after tough road games at St. Bonaventure and Duquesne to open the season

Game Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats | Stay In To Win Program

LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team hosts Chatham on Saturday night for its home opener at DeGol Arena.  The Red Flash and Cougars are set for a 7 p.m. tipoff on NEC Front Row, with Pat Farabaugh on play-by-play and Bernie Jubeck on color.
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Rob Krimmel, are 0-2 after tough road games at St. Bonaventure (92-82) and Duquesne (89-75) to start the season.  SFU held four different 10-point leads in the first half against the Dukes on Wednesday, but a 12-1 run by Duquesne gave them a 38-36 lead going into halftime.  They carried that momentum into the second half, with Duquesne shooting 62 percent from the field.
 
Chatham, a Division III team from Pittsburgh, has a 1-0 start to the season.
 
NOTES FROM DUQUESNE
- Sophomore forward Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) recorded his second career double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds, with both numbers being career highs.  He shot six-of-nine from the field and added two blocks.  Nebo's first career double-double came on January 21, 2016 against Bryant, when he had 10 points and 10 boards.
- Nebo led four SFU players in double-figures.  Freshman guard Randall Gaskins, Jr. (Woodbridge, Va./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) reached double-digits for the second straight game to begin his SFU career, posting 12 points.
- Sophomore guard Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) and senior guard Georgios Angelou (Halkida, Greece/Lykeio Kanithou) each had 11 points, with 9 of Blackmon's 11 coming in the second half and both players hitting three times from three-point range.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the first meeting between Saint Francis and Chatham, a Division III program from Pittsburgh.
 
NEBO'S BLOCK PARTY
The sophomore forward has become a force at the rim, both protecting it and rebounding.  Nebo posted 59 blocks in his freshman campaign.  He added two blocks against Duquesne to bring his career total to 61.  Nebo is already tied for eighth on the all-time list at SFU with Tom Bennetch (1987-91) and is only three blocks away from tying Will Felder (2009-11) for seventh place.
 
Nebo has been strong on the glass so far this year, including a career-high 16 rebounds at Duquesne.  He is 17th in the nation in rebounds per game, averaging 12.5.
 
BOMBS AWAY
Saint Francis hit nine threes at St. Bonaventure and followed that with 10 more against Duquesne.  In a short season so far, the Red Flash is shooting 42.5 percent from three, ranking 24th in the nation.  Georgios Angelou (Halkida, Greece/Lykeio Kanithou) leads the team with six threes made, while Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) has four and Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) has three. 
 
YOUNG TEAM
Eleven of the eighteen players on the Saint Francis roster are freshman or sophomore eligibility. 
 
Of the 13 players who appeared in a game so far this year, nine are freshmen or sophomores. 
 
Blackmon, Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School), Gaskins Jr., King, Michael Klebon (Paxinos, Pa./Southern Columbia), Deivydas Kuzavas (Kretinga, Lithuania/St. Mary's Ryken (Md.)), Scott Meredith (Pilot Mountain, N.C./Hargrave Military Academy (Va.)), Nebo and Andre Wolford (Willowick, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) have combined for 130 of the team's 157 points (82.8 percent) and 312 of 400 minutes (78 percent).


TEAM CAPTAINS
Senior guard Georgios Angelou, sophomore guard Jamaal King and sophomore forward Josh Nebo were selected as team captains for the 2016-17 season.
 
Angelou is one of three seniors on the roster and will move into a bigger role this season after being a key contributor off the bench last season.  He led SFU with a 47.4 three-point percentage, while averaging 3.6 points and a rebound per game in 2015-16.
 
King will look to provide leadership at the point guard position.  After joining the team in Mid-December last year, King played in 17 games, including a start at Mount St. Mary's.  He averaged nine minutes per game and totaled 35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals.
 
Nebo started 29 games last year and made a big impact, especially on the boards and at the rim.  He recorded 59 blocks, the second-most in a season at SFU, and already ranks ninth on the career blocks list at SFU.  Nebo was second in the NEC, averaging 1.87 blocks per game.  He averaged 4.9 points and 5.1 rebounds, while totaling six double-digit scoring performances and three games with double-digit rebounds.  He also had 10 games with three or more blocks.
  
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Chatham is off to a 1-0 start this season, with a 77-64 win over Franciscan University.  The Cougars take on Capital University on Friday night before heading to Loretto for Saturday's game.
 
In the season opener, Chatham put five players into double-figures.  Sophomores Alex Schoppen, a forward, and Isaiah Brown, a guard, led the team with 12 points each and both went four-of-eight from the field. 
 
Sophomore guard Anthony Bomar, sophomore guard Josh Randall and junior guard Reggie Rogers added 10 points each.
 
The Cougars made 28-of-61 shot attempts (45.9 percent) and 8-of-25 from three (32 percent), while out-rebounding Franciscan, 40-28.  Randall collected three of the team's eight steals as Chatham forced 15 turnovers.