Men's Basketball 12/28/2021 9:39:00 AM

Saint Francis Men's Basketball Starts NEC Play At DeGol Arena Against Wagner On Wednesday

Wagner College (6-2, 0-0 NEC) at Saint Francis University (4-7, 0-0 NEC)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, December 29,, 2021 \| 7 p.m
Location	.Loretto, Pa. \| DeGol Arena
Television	NEC Front Row (Pat Farabaugh (play by play) and Bernie Jubeck (analyst)
Live Stats	SideArm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis \| Wagner \| Digital Program
Stats	Saint Francis \| Wagner \| Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB \| #BELIEVE \| @RedFlashMBB \| Facebook

Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	2	Ramiir Dixon-Conover	6-3	185	R-Sr.	14.5	5.0	44.8	Averaging 15.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg in December
G	4	Ronell Giles, Jr.	6-4	185	So.	13.5	3.5	39.6	Averaging 13.8 ppg and 3.3 rpg in December
G	11	Maxwell Land	6-4	185	So	8.7	3.7	40.5	Team is 3-2 when Land reaches 10+ points
F	5	Myles Thompson	6-6	220	Sr.	11.6	4.2	44.9	Reached 10+ points in back-to-back games
F	42	Mark Flagg	6-9	215	R-Sr.	5.0	5.7	42.6	Needs two assists for 100 in his career
Off the Bench
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	1	Zahree Harrison	6-0	190	So.	1.8	1.0	26.7	Has an assist in seven games this season
G	3	Luke Ruggery	5-11	160	R-So.	2.2	0.9	26.9	Scored points in six of 11 games this season
F	13	Marlon Hargis	6-7	205	Sr.	5.8	1.8	53.8	Posted points in 10 of 11 games
F	15	Chukwu Ikediashi	6-8	220	R-Jr.	1.0	3.0	100	Appeared in two games, both at home
G	20	Brendan Scanlon	5-8	155	Fr.	0.7	0.7	50.0	Appeared in three games
G	21	Ben Seidel	6-0	170	Jr.	0.7	0.0	50..0	Scored first points since freshman year against Illini
G/F	22	Tyler Stewart	6-8	195	R-Sr.	--	--	--	Has not played in first 11 games
G	23	A.J. Labriola	6-2	185	Sr.	0.0	1.0	0.0	Appeared in two games this season
G	31	Brad McCabe	6-6	185	r-Jr.	0.3	0.7	16.7	Appeared in six games this season
F	32	Jeriah Coleman	7-0	220	So.	2.1	1.4	53.3	Career-high seven points and rebounds vs. Bucknell
F	33	Josh Cohen	6-10	220	R-So.	11.2	6.0	66.7	Leads the NEC in field goal percentage

GAME NOTES VS. WAGNER
need to know... The game between Saint Francis and Wagner marks the 79th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1956-57 season
• After the Seahawks won both meetings last season in Staten Island, the all-time series is tied at 39 games apiece.
• The Red Flash have won 24 of the 37 contests played in Loretto including the last tilt at DeGol Arena in 2019-20 (80-62).
• Last season both contests were played in Staten Island, marking the third time the two teams have not met in Loretto in a season (2011-12, 2005-06).
• Head coach Rob Krimmel is 7-11 against Wagner, while Wagner head coach Bashir Mason holds a 12-7 mark against the Red Flash.
• The Wagner series will be the first conference series completed for Saint Francis with the return game slated for Jan. 27.

a sfu win would... Open NEC play with a win for the sixth time under head coach Rob Krimmel and the first since the 2018-19 campaign
• Be the team's third win at DeGol Arena this season
• End a two-game losing streak
• Be the second-straight win against Wagner at DeGol Arena

next on tap... The Red Flash concludes its three-game homestand against Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday
• Saint Francis hits the road for the next two weekends for its second four-game road trip of the season. The squad will travel to Brooklyn, N.Y., to face St. Francis Brooklyn (Jan. 6) and LIU (Jan. 8) before heading to New England to battle Merrimack (Jan. 15) and Bryant (Jan. 17) before returning home on Jan. 22 for CCSU.

nec openers... Saint Francis heads into its 41st Northeast Conference opener 19-21 in the first game of the year.
• It will be the 20th time the Red Flash will open the league slate at DeGol Arena. The squad is 14-5 in those contests.
• It will be the fifth time Saint Francis has opened the NEC schedule against Wagner with all five games taking place in Loretto.
• An unusual statistic is that the team beat the Seahawks the four previous encounters and the Red Flash finished with a .500 record in NEC each occasion (1982-83, 7-7; 2009-10, 9-9; 2014-15, 9-9; 2015-16, 9-9).
• Wagner is the preseason favorite and marks only the second time Saint Francis has opened up against the preseason favorite. In 2016-17, the Red Flash fell to Fairleigh Dickinson, the preseason favorite, in the circuit opener.
•The Loretto program was the preseason favorite in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The team lost to Central Connecticut State in the opener in 2017-18, but won the opener against Mount St. Mary's in 2018-19 for the team's last NEC opening win.
• Wagner will become the second most played NEC opener opponent, breaking a tie with Mount St. Mary's and Central Connecticut State with four times apiece. Robert Morris was the most played NEC opener opponent with six games played.

the word on the seahawks... Wagner comes into the Northeast Conference opener after going 6-2 in non-conference play. The Seahawks are coming off a 63-50 win against Fairfield on Thursday.
• Alex Morales and Elijah Ford each registered 15 points to lead Wagner against the Stags. Raekwon Rogers (11 points) and Will Martinez (10 points) also finished in double figures.
• Morales, the reigning NEC Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring (15.9 ppg.), rebounding (6.3 rpg.), field goal percentage (58.3) and steals (14), while ranking second on the team in assists (14).
• Ford ranks second on the team with 11.4 points per game.
• Martinez leads the team with 29 assists and is third with 11.1 points per game.

last time we met... Wagner scored the go-ahead basket with 88 seconds left to down Saint Francis 70-68 on Feb. 21, 2021.
• Ramiir Dixon-Conover paced the Red Flash with his second career double-double, but first with points and rebounds after finishing the game with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
• Ronell Giles, Jr. added 13 points and Josh Cohen chipped in 12 points.
• Elijah Ford powered the Seahawks with 31 points and seven rebounds. Delonnie Hunt registered 15 points and Will Martinez added 10 points.

last time out... Robert Morris defeated Saint Francis 75-67 on Dec. 22.
• Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover stuffed the stat sheet to lead the team with 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
• Senior Myles Thompson (14 points), sophomore Ronell Giles, Jr. (12 points) and sophomore Maxwell Land (11 points) also found double figures for the Red Flash.

national ranking... Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover ranks 17th in steals with 2.33 thefts per game.
• Redshirt sophomore Josh Cohen ranks 21st in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage through games on Sunday . Cohen is in the rankings based on three made field goals per game with his 69.2 percent. The redshirt sophomore sat in second place for the week prior to the Illinois game for five made field goals per game.
• The team also ranks in the Top-100 nationally in four categories. The squad is 40th in fewest turnovers (125), 51st in offensive rebounds per game (12.45), 60th in turnover margin (+3.1), 78th in assist to turnover ratio (1.22) and ranks just outside the Top-100 in scoring offense in 116th (74.8 ppg.).

trending up... Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover notched his second-straight 20-point performance at home against Robert Morris on Dec. 22 after registering a career-high 23 points against Bucknell 21 days earlier.
• Dixon-Conover now has seven 20-point games in his career. The redshirt senior registered at least one statistic in every category against Robert Morris for the third time this season and ninth time in his career. He has recorded the trick three times in each of his last three seasons and has accomplished the trick with double figure in points on his last six times. In addition, he has five or more rebounds eight times, four or more assists six times and two or more steals six times when recording a stat for all the categories.
Dixon-Conover is averaging 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game with 23 assists, 15 steals and two blocks in the month of December.
• Senior Myles Thompson registered back-to-back double figures for the first time this season and the seventh time in his career. The senior also has a three-game and five-game 10+ games to his credit. While he has posted consecutive double-digit point games, he is also pretty much guaranteed to post at least eight points in a game, a feat that he has done in 10 of the 11 games this season. The senior has posted eight points twice, nine points three times and has five 10+ games including a season-high 19 points against Ohio on Dec. 4. He is averaging 11.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in his last three tilts.
• Sophomore Ronell Giles, Jr. has posted double figures in 18 of his last 20 games and has currently posted double figures in points in a career-best seven game streak. He is averaging 13.1 points per game in his last 20 games and has registered seven games with at least 14 points. He also has registered at least three assists in five of his last six games. He is averaging 13.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with 22 assists and 10 steals in six games in the month of December.
• Sophomore Maxwell Land has reached double figures in all three games at DeGol Arena this season, and also has four double-figure games in his last six contests. In addition, he has hauled in six rebounds four times this season. The team is 3-2 when Land scores double figures and 1-5 when he is held to single digits.
• Saint Francis was held under 70 points in consecutive games for the first time this season. The squad is 0-3 when the team does not score 70 points in a game. After averaging 80.5 points per game in the first four games to start the month, the Red Flash are averaging 57.5 points per game in the last two tilts.
• Saint Francis is shooting 38.0 percent from the field in the last five quarters after shooting 59.8 percent in the previous four quarters. The Red Flash shot over 50 percent in the second half against Ohio University, both halves against American and the first frame against Hartford. Since the second half against Hartford, the squad has not shot better than 41 percent in a half.

non-conference slate... Saint Francis concluded its non-conference slate with a 4-7 record.
• It was the 14th time the team recorded at least four wins in the non-conference schedule since joining the NEC.
• When the team wins at least three non-conference games, the squad has posted at least a .500 record in the circuit in nine of the previous 13 occasions including seven 10-win seasons in league play.
• Under head coach Rob Krimmel, the squad has won at least four non-conference games in 2014-16, and 2017-20. The Loretto program finished 2014-15 and 2015-16 with a 9-9 record, and then won 12 (2017-18, 2018-19) and 13 (2019-20) conference games in that span.
• In 2014-15 and 2017-18 the team participated in the CIT and in 2019-20 advanced to the NEC Championship Game.
• In 2018-19, Saint Francis started the year 4-5 and went on to win the NEC regular season, and play in the conference championship game and the NIT.

in the nec… Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover leads the circuit in steals (2.33), and ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (2.00), third in assists (4.00) and fifth in the scoring (14.5 ppg.), fifth in minutes played (32.10) and 10th in field goal percentage (47.7).
• Redshirt sophomore Josh Cohen leads the conference in field goal percentage (66.7),and ranks sixth in the circuit in offensive rebounds (2.36), ninth in free throw percentage (75.6) and 17th in scoring (11.2 ppg.).
• Sophomore Ronell Giles, Jr. ranks fourth in minutes played (32.64), seventh in steals (1.55) and ninth in scoring (13.5 ppg.).
• Senior Myles Thompson ranks third in 3-point field goal percentage (48.5) and 14th in scoring (11.6 ppg.).
• Senior Mark Flagg ranks ninth in offensive rebounds (2.20).
• Saint Francis ranks in the Top-5 in the Northeast Conference in 15 team categories, including pacing the league in scoring offense (74.8 ppg.), 3-point field goal percentage (34.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.22).
• The Red Flash also ranks second in field goal percentage (44.3), second in turnover margin (+3.09), second in offensive rebounds (12.45), second in offensive rebound percentage (33.3), third in scoring margin (-2.5), third in rebound margin (+0.5), third rebounding margin (+1.2), fourth in steals (7.55), fourth in defensive rebounding (35.9), fifth in free throw percentage (70.8), fifth in rebounding offense (36.4) and fifth in assists (13.82).

yada, yada yada... ramiir stuffed the stat sheet... There is alot to fall in love with in redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover's game.
• He has posted double figures in nine of the 10 games he has played this season, and has posted double figures in 23 of his last 25 games. He has reached double figures 28 times in his career.
• Dixon-Conover is a stat stuffer and has grabbed five rebounds 22 times in his career including seven times this season.
• He also has nine games this season with at least three assists and 43 in his career, and seven games with at least two steals in 2020-21 and 35 times in his career.
• Dixon-Conover became the sixth player in the nation to register 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game against a Division I opponent against Hartford on Dec. 18. He had a career-high six steals in the tilt aganst the Hawks.
• Dixon-Conover has sevenn 20-point performances, including a career-high 23 points against Bucknell on Dec. 1 and 20 points against Robert Morris on Dec 23.
• The redshirt senior has 13 games with 17 points or more in his career.
• Dixon-Conover moved over 500 points in his career with his career-high performance against Bucknell. He needs 25 points to reach 600 points in his career.
• Dixon-Conover also has 239 rebounds, 213 assists and 105 steals in his career.

march to a grand... Redshirt senior Mark Flagg and senior Myles Thompson continue their march up the career charts.
• Flagg ranks third in program history with 109 career blocks.
• Flagg is now one of six players with 100 blocks, and if he reaches 110 knock aways he would be only the third player in team history with 110 blocks.
•The redshirt senior grabbed his 600th career rebound in the first half against Illinois on Dec. 18, and currently has 608 caroms.
• Flagg has 833 career points, and needs 167 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
• Flagg also needs two assists for 100 helpers.
•Thompson is 160 points away from 1,000 points. The team has 19 games left including postseason and Thompson would need to average 8.4 points per game to reach the milestone.

not so fashionable... Saint Francis has now worn four different color uniforms this season.
• The Red Flash have donned black, white, red and gray uniforms this season. The squad won its season debut with the white jersey against Franciscan on Nov. 15, but lost its first game wearing black (George Washington, Nov. 9), red (Ohio University, Dec. 4) and gray (Robert Morris, Dec. 22).
• White: Record 2-0 (Franciscan, Bucknell)_
• Black: Record - 2-4 (George Washington, Cornell, Lehigh,
• Red: Record: 0-2 (Ohio U, Illinois)
• Gray: Record: 0-1 (Robert Morris)

home, sweet home, loretto... Saint Francis is 76-48 at DeGol Arena under head coach Rob Krimmel.
• The Red Flash is 50-30 in Northeast Conference play at home, and 26-18 in non-conference action.
• Saint Francis is 2-1 this season at home.
• The Loretto program has registered a winning season at home from 2014 to 2020, and the squad posted at least a non-losing season in each of those campaigns.

career night... Redshirt sophomore Josh Cohen notched a career-best 23 points against American on Dec. 8 after establishing a then career-best against Cornell on Nov. 24 and again against Lehigh on Nov. 28. Cohen had a career-best 11 boards against Franciscan on Nov. 15.
• Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover scored a career-best 23 points against Bucknell on Dec. 1.
• Redshirt sophomore Luke Ruggery posted a career-best nine points against Bucknell, while sophomore Jeriah Coleman had a personal-high seven points and seven rebounds against the Bison on Dec. 1.
• Senior Marlon Hargis has improved his best scoring output in the Red and Black in the last two games. After reaching a then-best 15 points against Virginia Tech on Nov. 18, Hargis scored two more points for 17 points against Cornell on Nov. 24. The senior's career high is 19 points against Harvard on Nov. 22, 2019 when he played for Holy Cross.
• Sophomore Maxwell Land posted a career-high 19 points against Franciscan on Nov. 15.
• Redshirt senior Mark Flagg hauled in a career-high 17 rebounds against George Washington on November 9.

benchmarks for success... Saint Francis is 4-4 this season when it reaches 70 points in a game, and 4-1 when it posted 79 points.
• Seventy is usually a magic number for success under head coach Rob Krimmel. The squad is 92-49 overall when it posts 70 on the scoreboard, including 42-35 (70-79 points), 38-12 (80-89 points), 12-2 (90-99 points) and 10-0 (over 100 points) in a game.
• The squad is also 105-30 when leading at halftime, and 92-54 when it had more free throws than the opponent.
• Defensively, the team is 73-31 when it allows under 69 points in a game. This season, the team is 4-0 after allowing 54 points against Franciscan,68 points to Lehigh, 67 points to Bucknell and 66 points against Hartford.

first collegiate points... Freshman Brendan Scanlon, the lone newcomer on the team, notched his first collegiate action against Franciscan on Nov. 15. The freshman registered a pair of rebounds and received a huge ovation when he scored off the glass with 27 seconds left for his first collegiate points.

preseason poll... Saint Francis was picked eighth in the Northeast Conference preseason poll. Wagner College received seven of the 10 first place votes to be selected as the preseason favorite. Bryant University picked up two first place nods to finish second, while Mount St. Mary's University earned the final first place selection to place fourth. Long Island University, Merrimack College, Sacred Heart University, St. Francis Brooklyn, the Red Flash, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Central Connecticut State rounded out the 10-team poll.

captain, my captain... Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover, senior Myles Thompson and sophomore Luke Ruggery have been named team captains for the 2021-22 season.
• Dixon-Conover and Thompson were also team captains in 2020-21.

20-point club... Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover leads the team with seven games with at least 20 points in his career. Dixon-Conover registered five 20-point performances in 2020-21 and reached 20 points against Bucknell (23 points) on Dec. 1 and against Robert Morris (20 points) on Dec. 22.
• Redshirt sophomore Josh Cohen joined the 20-point club after his career-high 23-point outburst against American on Dec. 8. The 23 points matched Dixon-Conover's total for the most points scored in a game this season by a Red Flash player.
• Redshirt seniors Mark Flagg and Tyler Stewart, and senior Myles Thompson both have one 20-point performance in their career. Flagg posted his 20-point game in 2018-19 while Stewart and Thompson both recorded their 20-point game in 2019-20.
• Sophomore Ronell Giles, Jr. posted two 20-point games last year with his career-best 21 points in the first match up against Bryant.

double vision... Redshirt senior Mark Flagg posted double-doubles in his first two games this season, while sophomore Josh Cohen turned the trick against Franciscan on Nov. 15, and against Lehigh on Nov. 28.
• Flagg posted the first double-double of this season with 17 points and 17 rebounds against George Washington on November 9, and followed that performance up with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Franciscan. Cohen had 11 points and a career-best 11 rebounds against Franciscan, and 18 points and 10 rebounds against Lehigh on Nov. 28.
• Flagg now has five double-doubles and Cohen has three double-doubles in their career. Senior Myles Thompson also has three career double-doubles.
• Cohen, Flagg and Thompson each have double-doubles that are points and rebounds. Redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover has two double-doubles in his career, one with points and rebounds and one that is with points and assists against Bryant last season.

boards up... Redshirt senior Mark Flagg has six double-digit rebound games in his career with two coming this season, including a career-high 17 caroms against George Washington on November 9.
• Sophomore Josh Cohen has two career 10+ rebound games, including a career-best 11 boards against Franciscan and 10 caroms against Lehigh on Nov. 28.
• Senior Myles Thompson ranks second on the team with three 10+ rebound games.

within hop, skip and a jump of loretto... Saint Francis has three local players on the team. Senior A.J. Labriola (Altoona), junior Ben Seidel (Johnstown) and redshirt sophomore Luke Ruggery (Duncansville) all hail from within 30 minutes of the Saint Francis campus.

flash return... Saint Francis returns all, but two players from last year's team.
• The squad returns 91 percent of its minutes, points and rebounds from last year.
• The Red Flash also returns its Top-6 scorers from 2020-21 with redshirt senior Ramiir Dixon-Conover leading the way with 15.5 points per game and senior Myles Thompson ranking second with 10.1 points per game. Redshirt senior Mark Flagg led the team on the boards with 6.0 rebounds per game.

coaches dream team... Head coach Rob Krimmel has assembled a coaching staff with strong ties to Saint Francis.
• Krimmel, a 2000 graduate of Saint Francis, was an Academic All-American.
• Assistant coach Eric Taylor, a 1998 graduate, was a three-time All-NEC selection, ranks 23rd in program history in points (1,287) and fifth in rebounding (967).
• Graduate assistants Ronnie Drinnon, an All-NEC first team selection as a senior and Jamaal King, who was named to the all-conference first team in his last two seasons, both played for Krimmel and also have etched their name into Saint Francis lore. King ranks 10th in program history in points (1,517 points) while Drinnon is 11th in rebounding (804). Drinnon graduated from Saint Francis in 2016 and King graduated in 2019.
• Assistant coach Luke McConnell, a 2012 Saint Francis graduate, played on the Red Flash football team as a student-athlete. McConnell is the son of former Saint Francis men's basketball head coach Tom McConnell (1992-99), while his cousin T.J. McConnell is in his seventh season in the NBA.

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