Red Flash opens NEC play in Emmitsburg
Miles McQuiggan
EMMITSBURG, Md. – The Saint Francis men's basketball team opens Northeast Conference play when the Red Flash travels to Emmitsburg to face Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday night.
The Red Flash and Mountaineers square off to open conference play on its earliest date in nine seasons.
The Matchup: Saint Francis (1-3, 0-0) at Mount St. Mary's (1-3, 0-0)
Location: Knott Arena (Emmitsburg, Md.)
Date and Time: Tuesday, Dec. 8 – 7 p.m.
Watch: NEC Front Row (Adam Pohl)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Saint Francis
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SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Mount St. Mary's is 1-3 on the year with a season-opening win at Morgan State, neutral-site loss to Navy, and defeats at the hands of Maryland and VCU. Tuesday's matchup will serve as the Mountaineers' home opener.
Jalen Gibbs leads the Mountaineers and ranks second in the NEC in scoring at 17.7 points per game, but did not play in Saturday's 60-42 setback at VCU. Damian Chong Qui is second on the team at 11.5 points per game. The Mountaineers have been held to 58.0 points per contest entering conference play.
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's meeting will be the 82nd between Saint Francis and Mount St. Mary's in a series that began 99 years ago with a 29-23 Mount win. SFU is 34-47 all-time against Mount St. Mary's with a 27-36 mark since the Mountaineers joined the NEC in 1989-90.
Saint Francis has swept the regular-season series in each of the last two years to end a stretch in which Mount St. Mary's had won 24 of 27 meetings from 2005-18.
GEOGRAPHY BEE
Due to conference realignment, Mount St. Mary's is now the closest geographic rival for the Red Flash in NEC play. Tuesday's drive from Loretto to Emmitsburg will total 143 miles in each direction.
BACK TO DECEMBER
The Red Flash and Mountaineers' Dec. 8 meeting marks the first time NEC play will start before Christmas since the 2011-12 season. Saint Francis is 13-7 in pre-Christmas conference games since 2000.
LAST TIME OUT: LIBERTY 78, SAINT FRANCIS 62
Saint Francis held one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams in check for the first 19 minutes, but a half-court buzzer-beater in the first half followed by a barrage after the break tripped up the Red Flash Thursday in Lynchburg.
A MILESTONE FOR MARK
Senior
Mark Flagg will appear in his 100th career game in a Saint Francis uniform Tuesday.
Through 99 career games, Flagg has contributed 657 points, 437 rebounds, and 94 blocks. Flagg is six blocks shy of becoming the sixth player in program history to 100.
INTRO TO COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Red Flash freshmen have played 44% of the team's minutes this year against a strength of schedule that ranks 70th nationally.
The backcourt trio of
Maxwell Land,
Zahree Harrison, and
Ronell Giles, Jr. have contributed the majority of that time with Land starting all four games and Harrison making starts against Virginia and Liberty.
Land, Harrison, and Giles are joined by
Josh Cohen,
Jeriah Coleman,
Brad McCabe, and
Luke Ruggery as freshmen to appear in a game this season. All seven have scored in at least one game.
MARK THE MARKSMAN
Senior
Mark Flagg has gone 22-for-33 from the field this season, good for second in the NEC
Flagg was named NEC Player of the Week Nov. 30 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.
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 four games.
Senior
Mark Flagg has scored 10+ points in all four games, while redshirt junior
Tyler Stewart, junior
Myles Thompson, and freshman
Maxwell Land all have two games in double figures. Senior
Ramiir Dixon-Conover, redshirt sophomore
Bryce Laskey, and freshman
Ronell Giles, Jr. have each added one.
HELPFUL HARRISON
Freshman
Zahree Harrison made his first career start against Virginia and recorded a game-high five assists against the nation's most defensively efficient team.
Harrison leads the Red Flash in total assists and steals this season. His four steals are the most by an SFU freshman since
Keith Braxton recorded four against Bryant in January 2017.
FRESHMAN GLASS
Freshman
Maxwell Land ranks third among NEC rookies in rebounding at 4.5 per game. Land has increased his total on the glass in each game, from three in the win at Pitt to six on Thursday at Liberty.
NEXT UP: ST. BONAVENTURE
The Red Flash will face a traditional opponent from the early days of the program when Saint Francis makes the trip to Olean, New York, Saturday to face St. Bonaventure.
The 44th all-time meeting between the Red Flash and Bonnies tips off at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit
francis.edu.
