WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Josh Cohen (Lincroft, N.J.), Ronell Giles, Jr. (Brandywine, Md.) and Maxwell Land (Cincinnati, Ohio) combined for 32 first-half points to help Saint Francis jump out to a 46-21 lead at halftime en route to an 87-61 win against St. Francis Brooklyn in Northeast Conference (NEC) action on Friday.
>> Cohen posted half of his game-high 22 points, while Giles also had 11 points and Land had 10 points in the first 20 minutes of the game.
>> Cohen finished the game with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Giles posted 16 points, while Land tallied 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
>> Marlon Hargis (Mays Landing, N.J.) recorded 12 points, four rebounds and two steals off the bench.
>> The Red Flash is now 5-1 in NEC play and tied for first place. The 5-1 start matches the second-best league start in team history for the fourth time.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
After St. Francis Brooklyn scored the first basket of the game at 19:13, Saint Francis reeled off the next 13 points to take a 13-3 lead. Land had six points in the spurt. The Terriers cut it to five points at 15-10 with 12:16 left in the stanza before pulling away thanks to a 16-0 surge to take a 31-10 advantage with 6:45 remaining. Hargis had five points to start the run.

FLASH QUOTES
"This group has really embraced the defensive side of the basketball. That's one thing as a head coach and the assistants to try to impart a defensive game plan. It's on these guys to execute it. I said after the game, offensively I can control who shoots those shots, most times. I can call certain plays. But from a defensive mindset, a coach can emphasize and can talk about all he wants." – head coach Rob Krimmel on defense
 
"I thought we did a really good job bouncing back after a tough performance offensively. We turned the ball over way too many times and you're going to have nights where you don't shoot the ball particularly well. I thought we responded well. We had two good days of practice and got off to a great start. We were able in the second half to extend the lead, which was something I talked about before – to learn to play with a lead and I thought our guys did that." – Krimmel on bouncing back
 
"We were getting shots to fall in tonight. Guys were in the gym constantly this week after the Sacred Heart loss. So, I knew the shots were going to fall tonight. When you put the work in, there's things that happen." – redshirt junior Josh Cohen on the game
 
"Especially coming back home in front of our fans, so getting that first home win in front of everybody was a big deal to us tonight. Th fans give us a big support. It gives us a big energy boost for sure. Our band is awesome. They are always here to support us. Just seeing all of our alumni, fans and kids coming in to support us gives us a big responsibility to give our best effort for them." – junior Maxwell Land on the home crowd

FLASH MOMENTS
With the Red Flash holding a 41-21 lead, Giles scored five unanswered points in the final 47 seconds to extend the lead to 46-21 going into the locker room.
 
The Loretto program pushed its lead to 32 with 13:33 on the clock thanks to scoring 14 of the first 21 points of the second half. Cohen had five points in this stretch. The squad's biggest lead in the game was 33 points after a Hargis layup at 8:50 and again after a Giles jumper at 8:09 en route to the 87-61 victory.

FLASH NUGGETS
Cohen, who was named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List on Thursday, notched his ninth 20-point game of the season and his third at DeGol Arena. The redshirt junior also had a 24-point game against Cornell on November 14 and his 40-point output against Lehigh on November 21. He was averaging 14.8 points per game at home since his outburst against the Mountain Hawks and the team was 5-1 in that span. In addition, Cohen has hauled in at least eight boards in nine of his last 11 tilts.
 
For the second-straight game, Giles notched a season-high in points after scoring 14 points at Sacred Heart on Monday. He has scored double figures four times this season, all in the last seven games. The junior has scored double figures 26 times in his career.
 
Land has recorded double figures five times in the last six games and 12 times this season. In addition, he has grabbed at least six rebounds in four of the last five contests and seven times in his junior campaign. The four assists were a season and NEC high after dishing out a career-best five helpers against Bucknell last season. Land needs four points to reach 700 in his career.
 
Luke Ruggery (Duncansville, Pa.), the NEC's leading 3-point gunslinger, went 3-for-4 from behind the arc and finished with nine points.  
 
The Frankies shot 60.4 percent from the floor (33-for-53) and a sizzling 70.6 percent from behind the arc (12-for-17). The squad nearly shot 60.0 percent against Franciscan on November 23 (45-for-75, 59.2 percent), but this marks the first time Saint Francis hit that mark since Franciscan (66.7 percent) on December 17, 2019, and against a Division I opponent for the first time since Stony Brook (60.4 percent) on December 2, 2017. From behind the arc, it is the second time in 2022-23 the Red Flash shot over 60.0 percent after hitting at a 66.7 clip against CCSU on December 29.
 
Saint Francis has won five-straight at home for the eighth time under Krimmel. The Red Flash will have to wait until February 9 to see the Loretto faithful again with the squad embarking in a four-game road trip.
 
The squad also started 5-1 in NEC play in 1989-90, 1997-98 and 2019-20, while the team's best start was a 6-0 start by the 1990-91 team.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis begins a four-game road trip over the next two weekends at FDU on Thursday, January 26. Game time is 7 p.m. The Knights are currently tied with the Red Flash for the top spot in the league but will also play on Sunday at home against Stonehill while the Loretto team is idle with its final bye of the season.