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Loretto, Pa. – The top-seeded Saint Francis men's basketball team (16-13, 12-6 NEC) will take on eighth-seeded Bryant on Wednesday night in one of four NEC Quarterfinal games. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
Scouting Bryant
 
The Bulldogs are a dangerous offensive team led by Adam Grant at 15.9 ppg and SaBastian Townes at 15.3 ppg. Bryant has struggled defensively, allowing its opponents to shoot 39.2% from three-point range on the season; the Bulldogs gave up 80 or more points in four of its last seven contests. Grant is the guy who can hurt you from the field, leading the team in 3PT FG% at 39.0%. Juan Cardenas emerged towards the end of the season as a big-time threat and leads Bryant with 45 blocks.
 
Series History
 
The series is even at 10-10 with the Red Flash holding a 2-0 record in playoff games. The last time the teams met in the postseason was the 2017 NEC Quarterfinals, a 100-78 win for Saint Francis. Both teams protected their home court this season, spliting the season series at one apiece.

Blackmon Nearing 1,000

Redshirt junior guard Isaiah Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C./West Charlotte) needs just 18 points to become the 42nd player in SFU history and the third on the current team to reach 1,000 career points. Blackmon has overcome two ACL injuries to rank third on the Red Flash in scoring this season at 11.8 ppg. He ledd SFU in scoring in 2016-17 at 13.7 points per game. Look for Blackmon to shine in the NEC Tournament. He led SFU in scoring during its run to the 2017 NEC Championship and is averaging 20.3 ppg in three career postseason games.

SFU in the Postseason
 
Saint Francis is just 11-24 all-time in the NEC Tournament, but 4-5 under Krimmel. With one more playoff win, Krimmel will pass Jim Barron for mosts wins by an SFU head coach in the NEC Tournament. Saint Francis has been good at home in the postseason, going 7-3. Despite last season's home loss to Fairleigh Dickinson in the Quarterfinals, Krimmel is 3-2 in five quarterfinal games. This will be just the second time SFU has served as the top overall seed in the NEC Tournament. SFU won the title as the one seed in 1990-91, its only championship. Ironically, Saint Francis shared the regular-season title with Fairleigh Dickinson that season, just as it did during this campaign.

Miraculous Second Half
 
It would have been difficult to imagine the Red Flash as the one seed after its 83-79 loss to Wagner on Jan. 24 to drop SFU to 3-4 in league play. Saint Francis proceeded to go on an eight-game win streak and won 9 of its final 11 to claim the top seed. SFU outscored its opponents by +5.7 over the stretch, making 39.8% of its 3PT FGs. Senior Jamaal KIng has led SFU in scoring over the last 11 games at 17.5 ppg.