Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team (9-6, 3-1 NEC) will be tested this week vs. two of the perennial powers in the NEC in Robert Morris (10-7, 4-0 NEC) and Mount St. Mary's (8-9, 2-2 NEC). Thursday's game at Robert Morris will be played at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, while Saturday's matchup with the Mount will be at DeGol Arena.

Scouting Robert Morris

The Colonials enter the week as the only undefeated team in conference play at 4-0. Sophomore Dachon Burke, the team's leading scorer at 16.4 ppg, also leads the NEC with three "Player of the Week" nods. Freshman Koby Thomas, who happens to be from the same high school (Imhotep Charter) as former SFU 1,000 point scorer Earl Brown, is second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game to go along with 6.1 rpg. He leads the NEC with three "Rookie of the Week" nods. Junior Matty McConnell, the cousin of SFU Director of Operations Luke McConnell, is averaging 10.4 points per contest. The Colonials will pressure the ball on defense. Not only do they have the No. 2 scoring defense in the conference (71.1. ppg) but they have forced the most turnovers (18.1 per game).

Series History
 
Robert Morris leads the series 51-31 but Saint Francis has won the last four. The teams played a thriller in the last meeting as SFU prevailed in overtime 89-83 behind 20 points apiece from Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) and Randal Gaskins Jr.
 
Scouting Mount St. Mary's
 
Saint Francis will try to atone for its loss to Mount St. Mary's in the NEC Championship last season when it welcomes the Mountaineers to DeGol Arena on Saturday. Mount is led by the league's leading scorer, Junior Robinson. A two-time All-NEC selection, Robinson has had to increase his scoring production with the departures of Elijah Long and Miles Wilson. He has done so to the tune of 21.9 ppg and enters the week as the reigning NEC Player of the Week after averaging 26.0 ppg and 6.5 apg in two wins. Robinson is also second in the conference in assists per game (5.24 apg). Redshirt freshman Jonah Antonio (11.8 ppg) and senior Greg Alexander (10.6) are also scoring in double figures. The Mountaineers have proven vulnerable on the backboards with the league's worst rebounding margin (-9.5), but they have shown marked improvement since the return of Chris Wray from injury.
 
Series History
 
Mount St. Mary's went 3-0 against the Red Flash last season, including a 71-61 victory in the NEC Championship, to improve to 43-33 all-time in the series.
 
KING'S COURT
 
Junior guard Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) has ramped up his game during conference play. The Maryland native is averaging 26.3 ppg over his last three contests and leads SFU in scoring in conference games at 23.2 points per game. King ranks sixth in the NEC in scoring (16.7 ppg.) and is seventh in the league in field goal percentage (.517 %) despite doing most of his work on the perimeter. The only guard in the league with a higher field goal percentage is teammate Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) (.523%).
 
 DEFEND DEGOL
 
Saint Francis has won all six of its home games this season and nine straight dating back to last season. The last team to defeat the Red Flash at DeGol was Saturday's opponent, Mount St. Mary's. The Mountaineers topped SFU 81-62 on Feb. 11 of last season.
 
STARTING SLOW
 
Saint Francis will look to get out of the gates faster in its two games this week. The Red Flash have trailed at the half in all four league games, shooting 37.0% from the field in the first halves of those games and 60.8% in the second halves. SFU is -7.7 in first halves of NEC games and +12.0 in second halves.