Flash Points:

• SFU Men's Basketball continues NEC play on Saturday as it hosts LIU Brooklyn.
• Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at DeGol Arena, with a live stream on NEC Front Row.
• Both teams enter with a 2-1 record in conference play, setting up a key matchup early in the NEC schedule.
• The Red Flash is coming off an 81-56 win over St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, in which SFU earned its largest NEC win since 2010.

SFU Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats
 
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team hosts LIU Brooklyn on Saturday at DeGol Arena for a key NEC matchup.  The Red Flash and The Blackbirds are set for a 4 p.m. tipoff on NEC Front Row, with Pat Farabaugh, play-by-play, and Bernie Jubeck, color analyst, on the call.
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Rob Krimmel, enters the game with a 5-9 record after earning a dominant 81-56 win over St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday.  SFU placed four players in double-figures, led by Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes)'s 14 points.
 
LIU Brooklyn, coached by Jack Perri, is 9-7 this year and off to a 2-1 start in NEC play after a 65-54 win over Robert Morris on Thursday.
 
NOTES FROM SACRED HEART
- Sophomore Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) led four Red Flash in double-figures with 14 points.  He added seven rebounds and a season-high five blocks, while hitting six-of-seven shots.
- Freshman Randall Gaskins Jr. posted a career-high 13 points, making six-of-seven attempts, and seven rebounds.
- Sophomore Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) filled the stat-sheet with 12 points, six boards, three assists and three steals, while sophomore Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) had 11 points, hitting three threes.
- The 25-point win was SFU's largest since a 60-34 victory at Bryant on February 11, 2010.  SFU held a 43-point lead with just over eight minutes left in the game.
- SFU has a 2-1 start to NEC play for the third straight season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Red Flash trails the all-time series, 36-35, against the Blackbirds.  The Red Flash split last year's series, winning 72-65 in Brooklyn, but falling 94-89 in overtime in Loretto.
 
NEC LEADERS
Early in conference play, Saint Francis owns the NEC's top offense through 14 games, leading the league in scoring (75.6 ppg), field goal percentage (45.2), three pointers made per game (8.9) and three-point percentage (39.9).  The Red Flash offense features a balanced attack with Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) (13.2), Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) (11.8), Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) (11.1) and Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) (10.7) all averaging double-digits in scoring.  SFU and CCSU are the only NEC teams with four players averaging double-figures.  Individually, Nebo tops the conference in blocks, averaging 1.71 per game.  
 
NEBO'S BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore forward Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) has become a force when it comes to protecting the rim.  After posting 59 blocks as a freshman, Nebo has 24 this year, with a season-high five against St. Francis Brooklyn.  His 84 career blocks are already good for fourth all-time at Saint Francis, recently passing Lou Schmitt (77, 1980-84).  Nebo needs 22 more blocks to tie Earl Brown (2012-15) and Emmanuel Adekunle (1994-98) for third.  Nebo leads NEC with 1.71 blocks per game.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Freshman Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) posted his third double-double of the season in SFU's 87-67 win over Sacred Heart, with a career-high 27 points and 13 rebounds.  Sophomore Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) joined him with 22 points and 10 rebounds, both career-bests.  That was the first SFU duo to post double-doubles in the same game since Earl Brown (22 points, 12 rebounds) and Ronnie Drinnon (Jamestown, Ohio/Greenview) (12 points, 10 rebounds) on February 14, 2015 vs. LIU Brooklyn.  Braxton and Blackmon are also the first SFU teammates to net 20 points in the same game since Drinnon (23) and Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) (27) against Central Connecticut State on February 6, 2016.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Eleven of the seventeen players on the Saint Francis roster are freshman or sophomore eligibility.  Of the 16 players who have appeared a game this year, 12 are freshmen or sophomores.  Through 14 games, the group has combined for 916 of the team's 1,058 points (86.6 percent) and 2319 of 2800 minutes (82.8 percent).  Against Marquette, a freshman or sophomore scored all 65 points and the group combined for 178 minutes.
 
BRAXTON EARNS THIRD NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AWARD
Braxton has enjoyed an impressive freshman campaign and earned his third NEC Rookie of the Week award this past Monday.  He averaged 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals in two games this past week, while shooting 56 percent from the floor, 57 percent from three and 92 percent from the free throw line.  In addition to his double-double at Sacred Heart, Braxton had 15 points (13 in second half), five rebounds, two assists and three steals against FDU.  He has posted double-digit scoring efforts in nine games this season and has seven games with eight or more rebounds.  His 19 rebounds against Stony Brook are the most by an NEC player in a game this season and the 20th-most by any Division I player.  That is also the most rebounds by an NEC freshman since Central Connecticut State's Ron Robinson on February 5, 2001 vs. Mount St. Mary's.  He is second among NCAA freshmen in rebounds per game (8.4), only 0.7 rebounds behind UCLA's TJ Leaf.  Braxton averages a rebound more per game than any other freshman guard in the country.
 
BOMBS AWAY
Saint Francis hit 13 threes against Sacred Heart last Saturday, the fourth time this season hitting 10 or more threes.  SFU hit 10 against Duquesne and Marquette and 19 vs. Chatham.  SFU has hit 8 or more threes in 10 games.  The Red Flash is currently 22nd in the nation with a 39.9 three-point percentage and leads the NEC, hitting 8.9 threes per game.  SFU's 19 against Chatham are the 10th-most in a Division I game this year.
 
Sophomore guard Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) leads the team with 30 threes, with senior guard Georgios Angelou (Halkida, Greece/Lykeio Kanithou) and sophomore Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) right behind with 26 and 24, respectively.
 
BALANCED ATTACK
The Red Flash has put at least four players in double figures in 8 of 14 games this season and at least three in double figures in 11 games.  SFU had five in double figures in the opener at Saint Bonaventure. 
 
King (13.4), Braxton (11.8), Blackmon (11.1) and Nebo (10.7) are all averaging double-figures through 14 games.
 
ABOUT THE BLACKBIRDS
The Blackbirds are 9-7 this season and 2-1 in the NEC, coming off a 65-54 win over Robert Morris on Thursday.
 
Senior forward Jerome Frink led the Blackbirds with 19 points and 11 rebounds.  He hit 8-of-16 shots and added five assists and a block.  Junior forward Nura Zanna joined Frink in the double-double club with 12 points and 13 rebounds.  Guards Jashaun Agosto and Iverson Fleming each contributed 11 points.  LIU Brooklyn shot 45 percent from the floor, but hit just 2-of-14 from three.
 
Frink is fourth in the NEC in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game, and second in rebounding, with nine boards per contest.  He is also third in the league in blocks per game, averaging 1.06.  Fleming is averaging 13.8 points per game, while Agosto is averaging 11.7.
 
NEXT TIME OUT…
Saint Francis is back on the road next week to continue its NEC schedule.  SFU travels to in-state rival Robert Morris on Thursday, January 12, for a 6 p.m. tipoff, which will be broadcast on Root Sports Pittsburgh as well as MSG Network and Fox College Sports.  The Red Flash will then meet Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, January 14 in Emmitsburg, Md. for a 4 p.m. game on NEC Front Row.