WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Eli Wilborn (Middletown, Conn.) keyed a 24-8 run to end the game with nine points including the go-ahead basket with 55 seconds left to power Saint Francis past American 75-73 in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday.
>> After Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) tied the game on a 3-pointer with 2:07 left, Wilborn scored four of the final six points for the Red Flash and finished the game with his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
>> Bobby Rosenberger III (Quakertown, Pa.) paced Saint Francis with 16 points, while Gregory (14 points), Carlos Lopez, Jr. (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) (12 points) and Miles Webb (Arlington, Va.) (10 points) also registered double figures in the winning effort.
>> Saint Francis swept the Patriot League series with American and Lehigh on the road for the first time in program history and are winners of four of its last five tilts.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
The Red Flash trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half, but whittled away at the margin and then closed the final seven minutes and 42 seconds of the game on a 24-8 run to come-from-behind and earn its second-ever win at Bender Arena.
 
Lopez started the rally with a jumper at 7:25 before Rosenberger hit back-to-back triples at 6:31 and 5:43 to cut the margin to six points. Rosenberger then stole the ensuing possession to set up Gregory for the flush at 5:33.
 
After an Eagles basket, Wilborn hit a jumper at 4:33 and then made the front end of two free throws at 3:59 to cut the margin to 67-64 with 3:59. American and Wilborn then traded points to maintain a 3-point difference. After the Eagles missed a 3-ball, Gregory sank one from downtown to tie the game at 69 with 2:07 left.
 
Wilborn then scored four of the six points with Lopez draining two free throws the rest of the way to secure the victory. The Eagles hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score to 75-73. Along with posting nine points, Wilborn had eight rebounds (two offensive, six defensive), two blocks and an assist in the final stretch for the Frankies.

FLASH QUOTES
"We knew that American was going to be ready to play. They are playing really well and had not lost a game at home. Last night and before the game today, we talked about the need to be tougher and more focused after each win so that we can work to be more consistent and stack days and wins. We were out of sorts offensively in the first half and allowed American to play in transition too much. We missed some reads and some clean looks but found a way to chip away at their lead to make it more manageable going into the half. At halftime we made a few defensive adjustments that helped us create some easy offense and momentum. This group is starting to develop an identity and they continue to play hard even when their backs are against the wall. I'm very proud of the way they responded today." - head coach Rob Krimmel on the game

"Complacency becomes the next challenge. We cannot be satisfied. I know this group will be up to that challenge and I look forward to getting back on the court with them after they take care of business in the classroom this week as they prepare for finals." - Krimmel on the next step

FLASH MOMENTS
American jumped out to a 28-8 lead in the game before Saint Francis began to chip away and closed the half on a 21-12 run to go onto the locker room trailing by 11 points. Gregory powered the surge with seven points, while Lopez (five points) and Webb (four points) also had multiple baskets in the final seven minutes and 37 seconds of the first half.
 
Trailing 50-37 with 16:45 left, the Frankies scored the next eight points to cut the margin to 50-45 with 15:41 remaining. Rosenberger (16:11) and Lopez (15:40) both hit 3-pointers before Aidan Harris (Annapolis, Md.) drained a jumper at 15:21 to trim the margin to five points.

FLASH NUGGETS
Wilborn averaged 10.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.0 assists per game in the two wins against the Patriot League this week. The freshman shot 3-for-4 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free throw line on Saturday and 7-for-11 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the charity stripe in the two games. Wilborn has registered double figures four times in the last five games with two double-doubles and is averaging 9.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in that span. The freshman has 12 blocks through his first nine collegiate games, which ranks second under Krimmel to only Josh Nebo's 15 rejections in 2015-16 in his first nine collegiate games. Nebo would go on to register 56 blocks in his first season in Loretto.
 
Gregory has come up clutch twice in the last two games for the Red Flash. The sophomore drained three free throws with 10.1 seconds left to give Saint Francis a 62-61 lead at Lehigh on Wednesday and then had the game-tying basket against American. The DMV native, who was playing near his hometown for the first time in his career, finished with 14 points, three assists and three steals and posted double figures for the fifth time this season.
 
Lopez notched double figures for the first time in his career with his 12-point effort after scoring a then career-best eight points twice in the first eight games. Webb, who was also playing in the DMV for the first time near his Arlington, Va., home, registered double figures for the third time this season and the second time on the road.
 
Aaron "Ace" Talbert (Wyandanch, N.Y.) made his first collegiate start and finished the game with five points and a career-high five assists. Talbert scored the first five points of the game.
 
Talbert joined fellow freshmen Harris, Rosenberger and Wilborn in the starting lineup to mark the first time since February 9, 2002 at Mount St. Mary's that the Frankies started four freshmen in the same game.
 
This is the fourth time under head coach Rob Krimmel the Red Flash has beat both American and Lehigh in the same season, but this marks the first time the trick has been turned on the road. It is also the second-ever road win against American after Saint Francis defeated the Eagles 69-62 in the nation's capital in 2016-17.
 
The Red Flash rallied from a 20-point deficit in a game for the first time since coming back from a 21-point margin in the second half against CCSU on January 30, 2020.

Saint Francis was victorious in consecutive non-conference road games for the first time since the 2019-20 season when the team downed Saint Joseph's 79-63 on November 30, 2019 and then defeated UMBC in its next road game 63-60 on December 7, 2019. The win at Saint Joseph's was also Krimmel's 100th win. The 12th-year head coach just picked up his 150th career win on Wednesday at Lehigh.

The Frankies won back-to-back games for the second time this season and registered consecutive wins by a possession for the first time since defeating Sacred Heart 79-78 on January 26, 2019 and Robert Morris 76-73 five days later. It is the seventh time in program history the squad has won two consecutive games by one possession and the fifth time since the team joined the Northeast Conference in 1981-82. Along with this season and 2018-19, Saint Francis also turned the trick in 1958-59, 1973-74, 1985-86, 1989-90 and 1990-91.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns to action and completes a three-game road trip at Iona on Sunday, December 10. Game time is 5 p.m.