Game Notes

Loretto, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team (7-6, 1-1 NEC) opens the new year with conference home games vs. LIU Brooklyn (6-9, 1-1 NEC) on Thursday, Jan. 4, and St. Francis Brooklyn (5-9, 2-0 NEC) on Saturday, Jan. 6.

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Scouting LIU Brooklyn

Thursday night should be a fun battle as it pits the top two scoring offenses in the NEC in Saint Francis (82.8 ppg) and LIU Brooklyn (76.5 ppg). The Red Flash will have to contend with two of the top five scorers in the league in senior Joel Hernandez (19.7 ppg, 2^nd) and junior Raiquan Clark (18.7 ppg, 4^th). Hernandez, a 39.7% three-point shooter, can hurt you from outside while Clark does most of his work near the rim as he boasts a 59.3% fg pct.The Blackbirds went 1-1 in its two home games in the opening week of conference but will have to hit the road where they are just 1-5 on the season.

Series History
 
LIU Brooklyn narrowly leads the series 37-36 as the teams split its two games last season. Coach Rob Krimmel is 4-5 in his career vs. the Blackbirds.
 
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Scouting St. Francis Brooklyn
 
The Terriers were one of just two teams to win both of their games as NEC play opened last weekend, collecting a road win at Sacred Heart and a home win over Wagner. St. Francis Brooklyn is a guard-heavy team who is tough to contain off the dribble and very successful at getting to the rim off the bounce. Sophomore Rasheem Dunn leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference in scoring at 15.0 ppg. He Is followed by Jalen Jordan (11.6 ppg) and junior Glenn Sanabria (10.4 ppg).
 
Series History
 
The Red Flash lead the series with a 42-36 overall record, including a 2-0 record vs. the Terriers last season.
 
BRAXTON DOING IT ALL
 
Sophomore Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) earned his second consecutive NEC Player of the Week award after averaging 23.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg 6.0 apg and 4.0 spg in the opening week of conference play. The sophomore ranks 10^th in all of DI in rebounding at 7.92 per game, tops among all guards nationally. He also ranks 10^th in the NEC in assists, recording 20 over the last three games (6.7 per game).
 
SURE-HANDED HARMON
 
Senior Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King)'s scoring numbers may be down this year from his career average but it doesn't mean he isn't adding value. Harmon ranks first in the NEC in assist/turnover ratio by a wide margin at +2.77. The next closest pursuer is Wagner's JoJo Cooper at +1.93.
 
STARTING SLOW
 
Saint Francis will look to get out of the gates faster in its two games this week. Saint Francis trailed at the half in both of its games last week, shooting just 27.6% from the field in the first half at CCSU and 36.7% at Bryant. In comparison, SFU shot 54.3% in the second half at CCSU and 70.4% at Bryant.