WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> "You sometimes wonder how a college or university achieves tradition or a sense of history. I can't help but think that-this afternoon here in this gym - we are seeing a great, big chapter in the history of Saint Francis College being written…. As you use this facility, as you walk up and down the streets and see it, try and remember what it stands for and who it represents. If you do that, it will mean a little bit more to you." – Jack Twyman said during the dedication ceremony on December 8, 1972, 50 years ago on this day.
>> The Maurice Stokes Athletic Center has meant so much to Saint Francis for the last 50 years and junior Luke Ruggery (Duncansville, Pa.) honored this building with a milestone of his own thanks to a career-high 18 points on his 22nd birthday in an 88-58 win against Saint Vincent in non-conference men's basketball action on Thursday.
>> Josh Cohen (Lincroft, N.J.) added his second-straight double-double with 14 points and a career-tying 12 rebounds.
>> Wisler Sanon II (Sicklerville, Pa.) also had a career-best 11 points, while Brad McCabe (Manasquan, N.J.) had 11 points on the night.
>> The game was the first between the two teams since the 1975-76 season, but the two teams are also tied to the history of this building. On December 4, 1972, Saint Francis and Saint Vincent played the inaugural game at the Maurice Stokes Athletic Center.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Trailing 10-4 with 15:01 left in the first half, the Red Flash went on a 31-11 run to take the lead it would relinquish. The Red Flash hit three consecutive baskets from downtown from Ruggery, Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) and McCabe to take a 13-10 lead at 13:25. Ruggery had nine of his 18 points in the 10 minute and 39 second run.

FLASH QUOTES
"The situation where we came to play this game, Coach (Andrew) Helton does a lot of our scheduling for us and sets games up. He had an opportunity to schedule another game when Mount St. Mary's left the league. We intentionally like to tell stories when we play games. This one was a little bit of an accident to play a team a little over 50 years ago Saint Francis matched up against when DeGol Arena was opened." – head coach Rob Krimmel on playing the game so close to the 50 Anniversary of the opening of the building
 
"I thought we had good minutes from guys that had not played many minutes in previous games. The guy to my left (Ronell) I'm excited to see him out on the floor again. The injury last year, then at the beginning of the year – I know to get him out there again gives us a little more depth. His experience, his strength, his understanding of the game – I'm excited to see him progress. I thought Luke gave us a great lift. Nothing better than having a great game on your birthday." – Krimmel on the game
 
"The year as a whole, I've come in with a different mindset. Just to bring energy off of the bench and kind of lift my teammates up when I get in there to play. That's kind of been my mentality and it's helped my game overall in terms of playing and having fun out there. I've enjoyed what's come out of it so far." – Luke Ruggery on his play
 
"It felt pretty good to get back out on the court. I was super excited. The biggest thing was getting my feet back under me, getting game time and experience." – Ronell Giles, Jr. on getting back in action

FLASH MOMENTS
Saint Francis pushed the advantage up to 21 points going into the locker room after the birthday boy hit a 3-pointer to set a new career high with 12 points by halftime in the waning seconds of the half.
 
The Red Flash pushed the lead to 30 points in the second half and took its largest lead at 88-53 with 1:50 left en route to the 30-point victory.

FLASH NUGGETS
Ruggery has posted double figures three times in his career including twice in 2022-23. He also had a career-high five rebounds in a career-best 25 minutes. It is the third-straight season the Loretto program has played on Ruggery's birthday, but this was the first time the Duncansville native could share it with the Loretto faithful after being at Mount St. Mary's in 2020-21 and at American last season.
 
Cohen has posted double figures in all 10 games this season and in his last 17 games. He registered 12 boards for the second time in his career and the first since hauling in the total against Sacred Heart on January 23, 2021. It is the eighth time he has registered a double-double in his career, but the first time he reached the trick in consecutive games.
 
Sanon posted a career-best 11 points after twice scoring seven points in a game, while McCabe posted his fourth double-figure point game of the year and seventh of his career. McCabe hauled in six boards to have at least five boards in a game for the fifth time this season and 11th time in his career.
 
Gregory, the current Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week, registered nine points and a career-best seven rebounds after posting a career-high 15 points at No. 25 Ohio State on Saturday.
 
Miles Webb (Arlington, Va.) registered a career-high eight points, while Landon Moore (Bloomington, Ill.) tallied six points and six assists, and Gestin Liberis (Havertown, Pa.) chipped in seven points in the winning effort.

Saint Francis men's basketball is 394-261 overall and 201-158 in NEC play since the building opened in 1972-73.

NEXT TIME OUT
The Red Flash return to action on Sunday at Hawaii. Game time is 11 p.m. EST.