FDU (16-13, 9-5 NEC) at Saint Francis University (11-16, 8-6 NEC)
Date | Time	Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 7 p.m.
Location	Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena
Television	ESPN 3/SNY (Dave Popkin, play-by-play; Joe DeSantis, color analyst; Paul Dottino, sideline)
Live Stats	SideArm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | FDU
Stats	Saint Francis | FDU | Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB  | #BELIEVE | #RideTogether | @RedFlashMBB | Facebook

OPENING TIP
• Thursday's game between Saint Francis and FDU marks the 101st meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1954-55 season.
• After the Knights 87-82 win in Hackensack earlier this season, the series is tied at 50 games apiece.
• The Red Flash holds a 30-18 advantage in Loretto, but FDU has won five of the last six contests at DeGol Arena.

THE WORD ON FDU
• The Knights come into the contest one game ahead of Saint Francis in the NEC standings, 16-13 overall and 9-5 in league play after defeating Wagner 66-48 on Saturday.
• Demetre Roberts powered FDU with 20 points, while Grant Singleton (12 points) and Ansley Almonor (11 points) also had double figures in the victory.
• Roberts leads the team in scoring (17.4 ppg.) and assists (125).

LAST TIME WE MET
• FDU defeated Saint Francis 87-82 on January 26 in Hackensack.
• Josh Cohen powered the Red Flash with 26 points, while Maxwell Land (12 points), Luke Ruggery (11 points) and Marlon Hargis (10 points) also registered double figures in points in the game.
• Joe Munden, Jr. led the Knights with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Demetre Roberts registered 19 points and Grant Singleton chipped in 14 points.

LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis' hot shooting in the first half powered the Red Flash to a 93-82 win against LIU on Saturday.
• Junior Maxwell Land scored 21 points against the Sharks for the second time this season to pace the Loretto program.
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen (16 points), redshirt junior Brad McCabe (14 points), freshman Cam Gregory (13 points) and freshman Gestin Liberis (10 points) also registered double figures for Saint Francis.
• The Red Flash earned its first two game sweep in a three-day span since sweeping the Brooklyn trip in the 2016-17 campaign.

A SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the team's third-straight win
• Split the season series with the Knights for the third time in the last four seasons
• Be the team's seventh win in its last eight home games
• Give the Red Flash a winning mark in NEC play for the fifth time under head coach Rob Krimmel

TRENDING UP
• Junior Maxwell Land now has three 20-point performances against LIU in his last four games against the Sharks. The junior now has seven 20-point games in his career with three against LIU and two against Sacred Heart last year. Land has registered back-to-back 20-point games once in his career in his final weekend last season against CCSU and Sacred Heart.j
• Land has also registered double figures in five-straight games and 12 of the 14 league games this season. The junior moved over 800 points in his career against LIU and is averaging 13.0 points per game in league games this season.
• In addition, the junior has posted double figures in nine of the 10 home games this season including all six NEC games. He is averaging 13.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game at home.
• Redshirt junior Josh Cohen is averaged 25.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in the team's last two-game homestand. He registered two 20-point games in the homestand after only having his 40-point output against Lehigh on November 21 as the only time he registered 20 points in a game before the contests against Sacred Heart on February 9 and Merrimack on  February 11.
• Along with his points, the redshirt junior has 39 rebounds and 14 assists in his last four games. He has three games with at least nine rebounds, two double-doubles, a five assist and a six-assist performance in that stretch. He is averaging 22.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in the last two weekends.
• Freshman Cam Gregory registered his first weekend with two 10-point games in his career. He had 10 points against St. Francis Brooklyn on February 16, including seven points in the decisive run and then had re-established his NEC career high with 13 points against LIU on February 18. Gregory shot 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) in the two games after shooting 11-for-28 (39.2 percent) in the seven games since returning to the floor after an illness. Gregory registered a career-high 15 points against Ohio State on December 3.
• Redshirt junior Brad McCabe notched his fourth 10+ game in his last six games against LIU on February 18. He had three-straight double-figure games for the first time in his career before his streak was stopped against Merrimack on February 11. He is averaging 10.5 points per game including a season-high 14 points twice in that span.
• Junior Ronell Giles, Jr. did not have double figures against LIU on February 18, but stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high tying seven rebounds and six assists. It was the third time in his career he has hauled in seven rebounds in his career, while the six assists are only topped by a seven-assist output at Ohio University last season.
• Saint Francis is 9-2 this season when it makes at least eight baskets from behind the arc, which is also the total needed to give away free a free Big Mac at home games. The team is 8-0 at home when this happens. The squad had nine against LIU in its last game to earn its first win when hitting eight 3's in a game.
• In four of the six NEC home games, the Red Flash has connected on double digits from downtown. The Loretto program is hitting at a 53.4 clip (62-for-116) from behind the arc in NEC home games. The team was shooting 57.2 percent from the floor but hit only 7 of 20 from downtown in its last home game against Merrimack on February 11.
• While the Petula Clark will tell you that you can forget all your troubles and forget all of your cares and go downtown, there is another area that has been key to the Red Flash success this season. The team is 9-7 when it has more points or even number of points inside the paint.

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saint Francis is 9-11 in the final two games of the season under head coach Rob Krimmel.
• When the team makes the postseason, the team is 4-0 at DeGol Arena and 5-6 on the road in that final weekend. The Loretto program is also 0-4 in the last two games in the two seasons the team has not made the postseason under Krimmel.
• It will also be just the second time under the coach the Red Flash has played its final two contests of the regular season, joining the 2016-17 season. The team has been on the road five times for the final two games of the season and four times the squad had a split weekend with a home and away game.
• With two games remaining in the league, the NEC Tournament is still in some muddled waters, but some things are starting to take shape.
• Saint Francis can finish anywhere between the No. 2 and No. 6 seed.
• The Red Flash can move into the No. 2 seed with wins against FDU and Wagner and Knights losses to Saint Francis and St. Francis Brooklyn and a Merrimack win. FDU would win a head-to-head tiebreaker with Red Flash thanks to sweeping its Merrimack series, while the Red Flash lost both to the Warriors. This is the only way the Loretto program can earn a No. 2 seed.
• Even if Saint Francis ends in a tie for the regular season title, the best seed it could hold would be a No. 3 seed so the team can only finish as the No. 2 seed by finishing one game ahead of FDU.
• With a win in the final two games, the Red Flash will clinch a Top-4 spot and host an NEC Quarterfinal match on March 1. Sacred Heart and CCSU finish the regular season against each other so the best that one of those two teams can do is 8-8 and a win would give Saint Francis nine wins.
• The squad can also clinch a Top-4 spot with a loss if CCSU losses to Merrimack, Wagner falls to Stonehill and Sacred Heart falls to St. Francis Brooklyn.
• The Red Flash can also finish in the Top-5 with a Wagner loss if CCSU and Sacred Heart both win on Thursday.
• The squad holds a tiebreaker with St. Francis Brooklyn after sweeping the season series and that would also give the Red Flash any tiebreaker the Terriers are included in with the Loretto program.
• However, because the Red Flash split with Sacred Heart and Wagner, they both will hold head-to-head tiebreakers with Saint Francis if Merrimack wins the league because the Red Flash was swept by the Warriors, while both those teams split with the Massachusetts program. The Loretto program would hold the edge over Sacred Heart only if they are tied head-to-head and Stonehill wins the league.
• CCSU currently does not hold that tiebreaker but can have the head-to-head tiebreaker if it beats Merrimack or if Saint Francis falls to FDU on Thursday since the Blue Devils split the season series with the Knights.
• If the postseason were to start today, Saint Francis would host St. Francis Brooklyn in the 3/6 NEC Quarterfinals on March 1 in Loretto.
• Saint Francis is the only 4:00 p.m. game on Saturday with the other three games being played at 1 p.m. so if the Red Flash seeding and/or opponent is not determined on Thursday, there is a good chance the team will know what needs to be done before it hits the court to secure its spot.
• Prior to the game against FDU, Saint Francis will honor redshirt junior Josh Cohen after he scored his 1,000th point against St. Francis Brooklyn on February 16. He became the 43rd player in program history to reach the feat with 16:52 left in the first half.
• Prior to the regular season finale against Wagner on Saturday, the Red Flash honor redshirt seniors Marlon Hargis and Myles Thompson, redshirt junior Luke Ruggery and team manager Matt Kenner.