Flash Points:

• SFU men's basketball team visits St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday.
• Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Pope Physical Education Center, with a broadcast on NEC Front Row.
• The Red Flash is 6-4 in the NEC after two wins in conference play last weekend.
• St. Francis Brooklyn is 4-19 overall and 2-8 in the NEC.

SFU Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats | 3-Point Challenge
 
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team travels to Brooklyn for two NEC matchups this weekend, first meeting St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Pope Physical Education Center.  The game will be broadcast on NEC Front Row.
 
The Red Flash, led by Head Coach Rob Krimmel, enters the game with a 9-12 record, including 6-4 in the NEC, after a tough 89-83 overtime win over Robert Morris on Saturday.  Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) led SFU with 20 points and six rebounds, including the go-ahead three with 27 seconds left.  Randall Gaskins Jr. had a career-high 20 points.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn, coached by Glenn Braica, is 4-19 overall and 2-8 in the NEC.  The Terriers fell 66-64 at Wagner on Saturday.  Yunus Hopkinson led the team with 16 points.
 
3-POINT CHALLENGE
Saint Francis men's basketball is participating in the 2017 Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge.  Fans can support the cause by visiting here and pledging an amount of money that will be donated for each three the Red Flash makes from February 1-March 5 (eight games).  Proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society for research and awareness.  SFU is one of several programs around the country participating in the challenge, with the program who raises the most money being crowned the champion of the event.
 
NOTES FROM ROBERT MORRIS
- Sophomore Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) was named NEC Player of the Week after scoring 20 points and six rebounds in the win.
- Freshman Randall Gaskins Jr. tallied a career-high 20 points, hitting 8-of-13 shots, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- Sophomore Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) recorded his fourth double-double this season with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with six blocks.
- With six blocks, Nebo moved into sole possession of third all-time at SFU with 108 career blocks.
- SFU swept the regular season series with Robert Morris for the second straight year.
- The Red Flash earned its first overtime win this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Red Flash leads the all-time series, 38-37, after breaking a tie in the series with an 81-56 win on Thursday, January 5 at DeGol Arena.
 
BLACKMON EARNS NEC WEEKLY HONOR
Saint Francis sophomore Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) was named NEC Player of the Week on Monday.  In two wins last week, he averaged 22.5 points, five rebounds and went 8-of-10 from three.  He scored a career-high 25 points in SFU's 72-67 win at Wagner last Thursday.  He scored 14 points in the second half, including 9 of SFU's last 13 points.  In SFU's overtime win over RMU, Blackmon tallied 20 points, including a go-ahead three with 27 seconds to go in OT.  In NEC play, Blackmon is averaging a team-best 16.7 points while shooting 52 percent from the field, 61 percent from three and 86 percent from the free throw line.
 
NEC LEADERS
At the midway point of conference play, Saint Francis owns the NEC's top offense through 21 games, leading the league in scoring (76.0 ppg), field goal percentage (45.6), three pointers made per game (8.4) and three-point percentage (38.9).  The Red Flash offense features a balanced attack with Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) (13.5), Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) (13.0), Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) (12.9) and Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) (11.5) all averaging double-digits in scoring.  SFU is the only NEC team with four players averaging double-figures.  Individually, Nebo tops the conference in blocks, averaging 2.33 per game, and Blackmon leads in three-point percentage at 51.5.
 
FINDING NEBO
Like a lot of opponents this year, Robert Morris found sophomore forward Josh Nebo (Houston, Texas/Cypress Lakes) at the rim this past weekend, when he had six blocks.  Nebo has become a force when it comes to protecting the rim.  After posting 59 blocks as a freshman, Nebo has 49 this year.  His 108 career blocks are already good for third all-time at Saint Francis, recently passing Earl Brown (105, 2012-15) and Emmanuel Adekunle (105, 1994-98) for third.  He is just one block behind Jerry Mack (1985-89) for second place.  His seven blocks at RMU are tied for the 14th-most in a Division I game this year.  Nebo leads NEC with 2.33 blocks per game and ranks 25th in the nation in total blocks.
 
In SFU's win at Robert Morris on January 12, Nebo added 23 points, on 10-of-12 shooting, and eight rebounds.  According to the NEC's Ron Ratner, Nebo is just the fifth player in Division I since 2010 to post 23 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks and shoot over 80 percent in the same game.  Nebo joins an elite group of players that includes former Kentucky forward and current New Orleans Pelican Anthony Davis.
 
KRIMMEL MOVES INTO EIGHTH ON WINS LIST
Saint Francis Head Coach Rob Krimmel picked up his 53rd career win on Thursday in SFU's 89-83 victory over RMU.  He now sits two wins away from tying John Clark (1966-69) for seventh place.
 
ACTION BRAXTON
Braxton has enjoyed an impressive freshman campaign, which continued with his fifth NEC Rookie of the Week award last week.  He has posted double-digit scoring efforts in 14 games this season and has 11 games with eight or more rebounds.  Braxton has posted five double-doubles.  His 19 rebounds against Stony Brook are the most rebounds by an NEC freshman since Central Connecticut State's Ron Robinson on February 5, 2001 vs. Mount St. Mary's.  He leads all NCAA freshmen in rebounds per game (8.8).  Braxton averages 1.7 more rebounds per game than any other freshman guard in Division I.  The SFU freshman averages 6.7 defensive rebounds per game, the third-most among any Division I guard.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Twelve 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 21 games, the group has combined for 1,395 of the team's 1,600 points (87.2 percent) and 3586 of 4250 minutes (84.4 percent).  Against RMU, a freshman or sophomore scored 80 of the team's 89 points and the group combined for 203 minutes.
 
BOMBS AWAY
Saint Francis hit 10 threes against Wagner, the fifth time this season hitting 10 or more threes.  SFU hit 10 against Duquesne, Marquette and Sacred Heart and 19 vs. Chatham.  SFU has hit 8 or more threes in 12 games.  The Red Flash is currently leading the NEC with a 38.9 three-point percentage and 8.4 threes per game.  SFU hit 50 percent of its three attempts in both of its meetings vs. Robert Morris despite the Colonials entering the games ranked among the top four three-point defenses in the nation.
 
Sophomore guard Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) and senior guard Georgios Angelou (Halkida, Greece/Lykeio Kanithou) are tied for the team-lead with 42 threes, with sophomore Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) right behind with 34.
 
BALANCED ATTACK
The Red Flash has put at least four players in double figures in 14 of 21 games this season and at least three in double figures in 17 games.  SFU had five in double figures in the opener at Saint Bonaventure, while also placing six in double figures against Chatham and five against Robert Morris.
 
King (13.5), Braxton (13.0), Blackmon (12.9) and Nebo (11.5) are all averaging double-figures through 21 games.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
Saint Francis has won three NEC road games this year, marking the 14th time in program history that SFU has earned three NEC road wins in a season.  However, it's just the fifth time since joining the conference in 1981-82 that SFU has tallied three road wins within its first five NEC road games, joining the 1986-87, 1990-91, 1997-98 and 2015-16 teams.  SFU has reached four NEC road wins in a season eight times.  SFU will look to win at St. Francis Brooklyn for the first time since February 2, 2013 (64-61).
 
ABOUT THE TERRIERS
The Terriers are 4-19 overall and 2-8 in conference play after a pair of losses last weekend.  St. Francis Brooklyn fell 79-73 against Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday and 66-64 at Wagner on Saturday.
 
Senior guard Yunus Hopkinson led the Terriers with 16 points, on 5-of-10 shooting and 4-of-6 from three in the loss against Wagner.  Freshman Rasheem Dunn added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.  Jagos Lasic had 10 points off the bench.  St. Francis Brooklyn shot 32 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three.
 
Dunn leads the team with a 13.6 scoring average to go with 4.7 rebounds per game.  Sophomore Glenn Sanabria averages 12.8 points per game, while Hopkinson contributes 12.0.
 
NEXT TIME OUT…
Saint Francis continues its Brooklyn trip with another NEC Matchup at LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, February 4. The Blackbirds are 14-9 overall and 7-3 in the NEC.