2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule

LORETTO, Pa. – The Northeast Conference released the 2022-23 NEC men's basketball schedule on Wednesday. The 16-game schedule will feature a home and home contest with each of the nine conference teams.

The Red Flash will open the league slate at home for the second-straight season, the sixth time under head coach Rob Krimmel and the 22nd time in the 43-year history of the NEC. Saint Francis is 4-1 under Krimmel in the inaugural league game of the year and the squad is 12-8 overall when the contests take place in Loretto.

The squad will begin the schedule against Central Connecticut State on December 29, marking the fifth time the Red Flash and Blue Devils tangle in the NEC opener. Saint Francis had opened the season a team-high six times against Robert Morris when they were a part of the league, while Central Connecticut State and Wagner are the second-most played teams in NEC openers. The Loretto program is 3-1 against the New Britain program in the first league game of the year, including 2-0 at DeGol Arena. The last time the two teams played the first NEC game of the year was also on December 29, but in Connecticut in 2017-18.

Saint Francis will play on New Year's Eve at home for the second-straight year when first-year member Stonehill makes its first trip to Loretto on December 31. It will be the ninth time the Red Flash will play on the final day of a calendar year and the fourth time in league play.

After a bye, the squad's first road game of the year will be at Wagner on January 7. Saint Francis then plays a split weekend, starting at home against LIU on January 14 before heading to Sacred Heart two days later on January 16. Finally, the team returns home to host St. Francis Brooklyn on January 20 before its final bye on January 22.

The final weekend of January and the first weekend in February will be away from Loretto. Closing out the month of January, the Red Flash will head to the Garden State against Fairleigh Dickinson on January 26 and then to the Nutmeg State to wrap up the season series with Central Connecticut State on January 28.

Starting the month of February, Saint Francis will make its first trip to Stonehill on February 2 and its third trip to Merrimack on February 4.

After the four games away from home, the Red Flash will play four of its final six games at DeGol Arena.

Sacred Heart starts this stretch in February on February 9, and Merrimack comes to town on February 11.

Saint Francis will make its final regular season road trip of the year at St. Francis Brooklyn on February 16 and at LIU on February 18.

The final weekend of the year will feature the two teams the Red Flash opened the 2021-22 conference season against at home with Fairleigh Dickinson on February 23 and Wagner on February 25.

The Loretto program will open and close the conference schedule at home for the seventh time in program history and the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

The NEC Quarterfinals are on March 1, the Semifinals are on March 4, and the NEC Championship Game is on March 7.

Krimmel has posted a winning record in NEC play four times and has finished .500 or better six times in his first 10 seasons. The Red Flash has registered 12 winning league records and finished .500 or better 19 times in team history.
 
It will be the first 16-game league schedule since 1991-92 when the league had a 16-game slate in eight of the first 10 seasons from 1981-82. The squad posted two winning league records and finished over .500 four times during this span, including winning the only NEC title in 1990-91 with a 24-8 overall record and 13-3 in league play.
 
Saint Francis non-conference schedule features six home games against Hartford, Cornell, Lehigh, Franciscan, American and Saint Vincent. The six non-conference home games are the most since the 2007-08 season. The Red Flash will travel to Saint Bonaventure, Butler, Bucknell, Ohio State, Hawaii, Miami and Robert Morris.
 
Saint Francis opens its 127th season in program history on Monday, November 9 at Saint Bonaventure, and then the squad will make its 2022-23 DeGol Arena debut against Hartford and the Jack Phelan Classic on Saturday, November 12.