Staten Island, N.Y. - The Saint Francis men's basketball team (16-12, 12-5 NEC) claimed at least a share of the NEC regular-season title with an 83-72 win at Wagner on Thursday night. Redshirt junior Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) registered his second career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win while junior Keith Braxton (Glassboro, N.J./Delsea) added 20 points and nine rebounds.

Krimmel's Reaction

"I am real proud of this group for the way we executed down the stretch," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "We let them hurt us on the offensive glass in the first half but made the necessary adjustments at halftime and did a much better job of limiting their second chance opportunities over the final 20 minutes. We will build off this win and try to close out the regular season strong against a tough Sacred Heart team on Saturday."

Turning Point

Saint Francis trailed 57-54 with just over 11 minutes left in the game before senior Andre Wolford (North Olmstead, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) sparked the SFU offense with back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give SFU a 60-57 lead. The Red Flash led 64-62 with seven minutes and change remaining before making its big run. Braxton started the run with two free throws and Blackmon ended it with a layup as the Red Flash used a 14-1 run to turn the two-point advantage in to a 78-63 lead with just under three minutes remaining.

First Half Sumamry

Saint Francis led 43-39 at the half because it knocked down 6-of-11 three-pointers. Braxton was the lead catalyst with 12 points on 3-of-3 from behind the arc.

Second Half Summary

The Red Flash picked up the defensive intensity in the second half, holding the Seahawks to 10-of-30 (30.0%) from the field. Saint Francis outrebounded the Seahawks 29-16 in the second half after being outboarded 19-14 over the first 20 minutes.

Inside the Box Score

• Saint Francis made 23-of-51 (45.1%) field goals while the Seahawks shot 24-of-63 (38.1%) from the field.
• The Red Flash hit 11-of-24 (45.8%) three-pointers while holding Wagner to 9-of-29 (31.0%).
• Saint Francis went to the line 37 times, its most in a game since Dec. of last season. The Red Flash converted 26-of-its 37 (70.3%) free throws. Wagner made 15-of-23 (65.2%) from the charity stripe.
• Rebounds finished 43-35 in SFU's favor. Saint Francis held Wagner to just three offensive rebounds in the second half after allowing 10 in the first.
• The score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands nine times.

Notes

• SFU secures at least a share of the regular-season title for just the second time in program history. Saint Francis shared the regular-season championship with Fairleigh Dickinson in its title-winning 1990-91 season.
• Saint Francis has won 16 or more games for the third consecutive season. The last time the program accomplished the feat was 50 years ago, winning 16 or more games from the 1966-67 season through the 1968-69 season.
• SFU's 24 Northeast Conference wins over the last two seasons are the most over a two-year stretch in program history.
• Wolford's 15 points were his most since scoring 16 at CCSU on Jan. 19, a stretch of 12 games.
• Senior Jamaal King (Salisbury, Md./Bishop O'Connell (Va.)) finished one assist short of his first career double-double with 14 points and nine assists.He is just 14 assists shy of moving into fifth place in school history, which would make him the first player in school history to rank in the top 10 in career scoring and top five in career assists.
• Senior Luidgy Laporal (Petit-Boutg, France/Harcum C.C.) added seven points and seven rebounds.
• Blackmon needs 20 points on Saturday to become the 42nd 1,000 point scorer in program history and the third on the current roster.

Seeding Implications

Saint Francis is firmly in the driver's seat for the top seed entering the final Saturday of the season. Only one scenario can prevent the Red Flash from obtaining home court throughout the playoffs and that would occur if all of the following happen:

- Saint Francis loses to Sacred Heart
- FDU beats CCSU
- Wagner beats RMU
- St Francis Brooklyn beats Mount St. Mary's

If this happens, SFU and FDU tie at the top with 12-6 records and 1-1 records against each other, eliminating the head-to-head tiebreaker. Sacred Heart would claim the third seed with an 11-7 record. Since SFU and FDU would both be 1-1 vs. Sacred Heart, the tiebreak would continue down to the two-way tie at 4th place between RMU and SFBK. Both SFU and FDU would have matching 3-1 records against the pair. SFU and FDU both split the series with Wagner and LIU Brooklyn so, ultimately, the tiebreak would be decided by FDU's 2-0 record against Bryant while SFU stands at 1-1 vs. the Bulldogs. If any of the following scenarios don't play out, the Red Flash secure the number one seed heading into the playoffs.

Up Next

Saint Francis tries to win its first outright NEC title in program history on Saturday at Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m.