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Smithfield, R.I. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team (7-4) kicks off the New Year with games at Bryant (8-5) on Jan. 2 and CCSU (1-12) on Jan. 4 to open the conference season.
 
Scouting Bryant
 
The Bulldogs won a league-high eight games in non-conference play behind its stingy defense. Bryant ranks third in the NEC in scoring defense (68.3 ppg), first in FG% defense (39.7%) and second in 3PT FG% defense (31.1%), which has led them to a league-best +5.7 scoring margin. The Bulldogs protect the rim better than any team in the conference, averaging 4.85 blocks per game. Junior Elisias Hall tops the NEC at 3.0 blocks per game. Offensively, senior guard Adam Grant leads the way at 19.0 ppg, averaging a league-high 3.45 three-pointers per game. Freshman Charles Pride is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 ppg and has twice been named the NEC's Rookie of the Week. Bryant is the third-best rebounding team in the league. Sophomore Patrick Harding is second in the league in rebounding at 9.9 per game.
 
Series History
 
Saint Francis leads the series with Bryant 11-10 after defeating the Bulldogs in the NEC Quarterfinal in Loretto 67-63 in March. The teams split the regular season matchups last year with each team protecting its home court.
 
Scouting CCSU
 
The Blue Devils got their first win of the season last time out over Connecticut College but are still looking for its first Division I win of the season. Central Connecticut has been limited offensively, averaging a league-worst 59.2 ppg, while shooting just 37.9% from the field. The Blue Devils have been exposed on the glass with a -8.5 rebounding margin. Freshman Greg Outlaw leads the team in scoring at 10.4 ppg. CCSU got a big boost with the return of sophomore Ian Krishnan. One of the top scorers from last season, Krishnan dropped 23 points on 5-10 from three-point range in his season debut in the Blue Devils win.
 
Series History
 
CCSU leads the series 22-21, but Saint Francis has won three straight over the Blue Devils and six of the last eight.
 
Exciting Opening Matchup
 
SFU's conference opener at Bryant figures to be a good one as it features the top two teams in the NEC in win percentage and NET Rankings. The Red Flash head into the game ranked 135 in the NET, while Bryant is 191. Bryant ranks first in the NEC in scoring margin (+5.7) while Saint Francis is third (+4.1). SFU is second in rebounding margin (+1.3) and Bryant is third (+0.1).
 
NEC Elite
 
Saint Francis has won 35 league games over the last three seasons, the most in the NEC. SFU's win pct. is also tops in the NEC (.648%) and has led Saint Francis to a top four finish in each of the last three seasons. Wagner is second in total wins over the last three seasons with 33.
 
Riding High
 
Saint Francis enters the opening weekend of conference play on a five-game win streak, the first five-game win streak out of conference since the Red Flash joined the NEC at the start of the 1981-82 season. SFU's seven non-conference wins are its most since 1997-98.