Saint Francis concludes Virginia trip with game at Liberty
Miles McQuiggan
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team plays its fourth game in nine days to open the season when the Red Flash travels to Liberty for the first time since 2006.
The Red Flash and Flames, two of 10 mid-major programs to knock off power conference opponents this season, will meet in the inaugural game at Liberty Arena.
The Matchup: Saint Francis (1-2) at Liberty (2-2)
Location: Liberty Arena (Lynchburg, Va.)
Date and Time: Thursday, Dec. 3 – 7 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+ (Matt Warner, Paul Nazigian)
Game Notes: Saint Francis
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Social Media: Facebook |
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Instagram | #NECMBB
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Liberty is 2-2 on the year with all four games against power conference opponents. The Flames fell to Purdue in their opener before back-to-back SEC wins against Missisippi State in Melbourne, Florida, and South Carolina in Kansas City, 46 hours apart. Liberty lost by four to TCU on Sunday in Kansas City.
Darius McGhee leads Liberty in scoring with 17.3 points per game and has gone 15-for-43 from beyond the arc in four games. McGhee's 5.3 rebounds per game lead a Liberty team averaging 25.0 per game. The Flames' 47 total three-pointers lead the nation.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's meeting will be the sixth between the Red Flash and Flames and first since the teams split a home-and-home in the 2006-07 season. Saint Francis is 4-1 all-time against Liberty.
CHECK, PLEASE
The Red Flash and Flames are two of 10 mid-major programs nationally to defeat a team from the Power 5 or Big East this season.
Liberty's two wins over SEC opponents (Mississippi State, South Carolina) are joined by Saint Francis' victory over Pitt and wins by Drake, Georgia State, San Diego State, Mercer, Nevada, San Francisco, Navy, and UC Riverside.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 15 VIRGINIA 76, SAINT FRANCIS 51
The defending national champions jumped out to a strong halftime lead before the Cavaliers and Red Flash played an evenly matched final 20 minutes Tuesday in Charlottesville.
Redshirt sophomore
Bryce Laskey led the Red Flash with a career-high 12 points.
HELPFUL HARRISON
Freshman
Zahree Harrison made his first career start Tuesday against Virginia and recorded a game-high five assists against the nation's most defensively efficient team.
MARK THE MARKSMAN
Senior
Mark Flagg has gone 18-for-25 from the field to open the season, good for 41st nationally and first in the NEC.
Flagg was named NEC Player of the Week Monday after recording 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while helping the Red Flash to its first win over Pitt in program history.
MAX EFFORT
Freshman
Maxwell Land shared NEC Rookie of the Week honors Monday after scoring in double figures while starting in each of his first two collegiate games.
Land scored 12 points in the win over Pitt and added 10 points against UMBC while shooting 50% from the field and 4-of-6 from three.
PRESENT TENS
A year removed from graduating the program's two leading scorers, seven different Saint Francis players have produced a 10-point effort in the season's first three games.
Senior
Mark Flagg has scored 10+ points in all three games and freshman
Maxwell Land was in double figures against UMBC and Pitt. A career-high performance from redshirt sophomore
Bryce Laskey at Virginia helped him join
Ramiir Dixon-Conover,
Ronell Giles, Jr.,
Tyler Stewart, and
Myles Thompson on that list.
FIRST OF THE MONTH, FIRST OF THE CAREER
Three Saint Francis players recorded their first career points Tuesday at Virginia: redshirt freshmen
Josh Cohen and
Brad McCabe and freshman
Jeriah Coleman.
The trio became the fifth, sixth, and seventh Red Flash players to score for the first time this season.
NEXT UP: MOUNT ST. MARY'S
The Red Flash will open NEC play Tuesday with a trip to Mount St. Mary's. The 7 p.m. game can be seen on NEC Front Row.
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit
francis.edu.
