WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis concluded its three-game West Coast swing to open the season with a 82-59 loss at Santa Clara in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday.
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Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) reached double figures for the second-straight game and finished with a team-high 12 points and four assists.
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Eli Wilborn (Middletown, Conn.) added a career-high nine points, five rebounds and two blocks, while
Braylen Blue (Sun Prairie, Wisc.) and
Aaron "Ace" Talbert (Wyandanch, N.Y.) also had career nights for the Red Flash.
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
After the Red Flash scored first on a Gregory trey, the Broncos went on a 31-9 run to take control of the game and went on for the victory in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
FLASH QUOTES
"I thought we took a huge step offensively tonight against a very strong Santa Clara team. That's a physical discipline, a very good defensive team, and I thought we did a really good job of getting the shots that we wanted, and we took care of the basketball. For the most part, we we made some shots we had some guys make some plays off the bench. And that's progress. Let's dive into some areas that we need to clean up as we work to establish our identity and with this group. It's still a work in progress with that identity, but I'm proud of the way they competed."
– head coach Rob Krimmel on the game
"We talked to our guys after the first two about continuing to grow together. And I thought we saw some growth. I gave them a gardening analogy that when you plant a seed in a garden, you don't always see the results right away. It takes time, need to water it, fertilize it, the sun is going shine so that the seed grows and right now we're in a situation where the seeds have been planted. Now we got to continue to fertilize, water that thing and do the things that we know will impact winning down the road. You just don't see the results right away. And that sense of urgency that our guys have, and they want to win a basketball. We need to continue to work on the things that will put us in a position to win those basketball games as we grow together as a team. Any good gardener knows you don't know when that seed is going walk through that soil. We just have to be patient and continue to do the things that we know what helped that seed grow. These guys in that locker room have the heart, passion what it takes when you plant that seed. We need to continue to fertilize and foster that so that when the opportunity to win a basketball game emerges, we're prepared for it and that's what we're working on our mission."
– Krimmel comparing his team's growth process to gardening
"I had a lot of great memories going to Penn State basketball games. It'll be an opportunity for our guys to go out and compete against the Big 10 team. I was never able to play at Penn State as a player, but as a coach, it will certainly be a lot of fun to go back and be able to coach against the team that I watched growing up."
– Krimmel on playing Penn State, where he grew up as a kid
FLASH MOMENTS
Saint Francis struck first on a Gregory 3-pointer 69 seconds into the game for the Red Flash for an early 3-0 lead.
The Loretto program went on a 10-4 in the first half. Wilborn started the spurt with his first career field goal on a layup at 6:39 before Blue drained his first of two 3-pointers in the run.
Chris Moncrief (Turtle Creek, Pa.) capped the run with a fastbreak dunk with 4:59 left in the first half.
In the second half, Saint Francis strung together a 9-1 run that included seven-straight points. Gregory started the spurt with two free throws at 6:56 before
Wisler Sanon II (Sickersville, N.J.) hit a trey at 5:56 and then Sanon registered another basket 30 seconds later. After a free throw by Santa Clara, Wilborn scored in the lane to cap to run.
Later in the half, the Frankies put together a 10-1 run.
Carlos Lopez, Jr. (Egg Harbor Township, Pa.) started this offensive set with back-to-back buckets at 3:21 and 2:52. After a free throw by the Broncos, Wilborn converted a traditional 3-point play at 2:16 and Talbert sank a 3-ball at 1:52.
After being outscored in the first half by 22 points, the Red Flash stayed close with Santa Clara in the final frame with the Broncos holding a 36-35 edge.
FLASH NUGGETS
Gregory, who had 11 points on Thursday at San Francisco, notched his second-straight game in double figures and his sixth of his career. The sophomore has scored 10+ points in back-to-back games for the second time in his career. He added four assists to hand out at least three helpers for the 12th time in his career.
Wilborn narrowly missed his first 10-point game by one point thanks to 4-for-5 shooting from the floor and 1 of 4 from the foul line in his first collegiate start. The freshman, who had his first collegiate points on Thursday, has the most points in a game by a freshman this season.
Talbert, who had five points in the season opener at UCLA, increased his career best with seven points against Santa Clara. After registering his first career points at San Francisco, Blue had a career-best six points on Saturday in 15 minutes of work.
The three-game stretch to start the season might arguable be one of the toughest starts under Krimmel. UCLA, San Francisco and Santa Clara combined to go 73-30 last season with UCLA playing in the NCAA Tournament and Santa Clara in the NIT. It doesn't get any easier with Penn State on the horizon, a team that also went to the NCAA Tournament and won over 20 games.
The Frankies are 0-3 for the 27th time dating back to the 1950-51 season and the second time under Krimmel. The last time the team opened the year with three consecutive losses was Krimmel's first season of 2012-13. That season opened with the Red Flash's next opponent Penn State for the only time the two teams have met in the Krimmel era.
NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns to action on Tuesday at Penn State. Game time is 7 p.m.
