WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Saint Francis will be the No. 3 seed in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament and will face CCSU on Wednesday at DeGol Arena.
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Josh Cohen (Lincroft, N.J.) registered 29 points and 12 rebounds in a 68-58 loss to Wagner in NEC men's basketball action on Saturday.
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Luke Ruggery (Duncansville, Pa.) notched his second-best career total with 17 points and was honored prior to the game against the Seahawks along with team manager Matt Kenner,
Marlon Hargis (Mays Landing, N.J.) and
Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J.).
>> Saint Francis will be hosting an NEC Tournament game for the seventh time under head coach
Rob Krimmel and the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Wagner took the lead it would not relinquish with 8:25 left in the first half and held as large as a 12-point lead a couple times on the afternoon.
Ruggery cut the margin to 61-56 with 4:12 remaining in the game, but besides a
Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) layup with 28 seconds left the Red Flash did not score again in the final four minutes of the game. Saint Francis was 0-for-4 from the floor during that span including missing the front end of a 1-and-1 and the Seahawks grabbed the defensive rebound on all five shot attempts.
FLASH QUOTES
"About our seniors, you know the four that we honor tonight, Matt Kenner, a manager who does all the work behind the scenes and greatly appreciate everything he's done for our program for four years, whether it's rebound for guys, set up practice, do laundry, help us with travel. I could be here for the next hour, listing the things that he's done for our basketball program. And I'm appreciative of all that he's done, and certainly a big part of our family always will be."
– head coach on team manager Matt Kenner
"And then, you know, the three players, the two that played today, Marlon and Luke, certainly not how you want to remember your senior day. For these guys though, they have another opportunity to come out here and compete. I thought Luke, you really gave us a lift there coming out of the second half after we were very flat and didn't execute."
– Krimmel on Luke Ruggery and Marlon Hargis
"And you know, then the guy on my left (
Myles Thompson) who surely could have used some of that, that muscle tonight, I almost tried to see had his uniform on and see if we can get him out there and grab some rebounds for us. But you know it's crazy. Marlon three years. Luke four years. You know it, it flies by and, it's never really enough time, right? It's never really enough time to be around people that our pleasure to be around."
– Krimmel on Myles Thompson
"Coach Krimmel came to me, saw the way my class were working, and wanted to provide me with the opportunity in the case that I do I decide that it's time for me that I would go out the right way and I was very appreciative of that. That was the last thing I was thinking about (senior day). The coaches and teammates have given an amazing experience."
– Luke Ruggery on being honored for senior day
"I'm trying to walk across that stage and a that's my main goal right now. I'm trying to walk and see my mom and dad crying from the stage."
– Myles Thompson on graduating
"And I know these guys believe in that locker room. They believe in each other, but we know that we can string together three games. We've done it before, it's just a matter of taking one game at a time and understanding what we need to do come turn them at basketball. To be able to put ourselves. In a position to win a game."
– Krimmel on the postseason
FLASH MOMENTS
Saint Francis started the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 40-36 with 16:17 left in the game. Besides a Cohen free throw, the spurt was fueled by this afternoon's honorees Ruggery and Hargis who both had four points in the spurt.
With the Seahawks holding a 57-45 advantage with 7:27 on the clock, the Red Flash went on an 11-4 run to make it a 61-56 margin with 4:12 left. The surge was powered by two treys by
Maxwell Land (Cincinnati, Ohio) and one by Ruggery.
FLASH NUGGETS
After posting an NEC career-high 31 points along with four rebounds in an 82-72 win against FDU on Thursday to clinch a postseason home game, Cohen registered 29 points and a NEC career-best tying 12 boards. He averaged 30.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the week, while adding three assists, two blocks and a steal. Cohen and Ruggery were the only two players that scored in the opening half and Cohen had a hand in all the points after posting 20 points and dishing out both assists on Ruggery's two triples. Cohen finishes the regular season by scoring double figures in all 29 games with 16 games with at least 20 points, nine games with at least 25 points, four games with at least 30 points and two 40-point performances. He registered his sixth double-double of the season and 12th of his career.
Cohen continues to make moves on the all-time lists, moving up two spots into 33rd place for career points (1,095) and three spots on the career rebound list in 26th place (513). On the program's single-season charts, he moved up three spots to sixth place with 639 points this season. He has also posted the most points in a single season since 1990-91 when Mike Iuzzolino (772) and Joe Anderson (637) both scored at least 637 points that season. In addition, the redshirt junior has now made the fifth most field goals (241) and the fourth most free throws (157) in a single season.
Ruggery has saved his best games this season for special occasions. His NEC career-high 17 points on Saturday are only bested by an 18-point performance against Saint Vincent on December 8, which was also his birthday. The redshirt junior has five games with at least 10 points this season and six in his career. Five of the six performances have happened in Loretto for the local product.
Land, who had an NEC career-high 24 points on Thursday, was held to single digits for the first time in an NEC home game this season. He finished with six points.
With a win on Saturday, Saint Francis had a chance to sweep the New York NEC schools both home and away to go 6-0 against Wagner, LIU and Saint Francis Brooklyn. It would have been the first time since 1989-90 that would have happened. In addition, the Seahawks would have returned to Loretto for the NEC Quarterfinals in the Red Flash pulled out the win.
Saint Francis will be the No. 3 seed for the second time in program history, while it will face CCSU for the first time in the league postseason. The two teams split its regular season meetings with the Red Flash taking an 80-72 victory in the NEC home opener on December 29 before the Blue Devils downed the Loretto program 88-74 in New Britain on January 28.
NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns to action on Wednesday at home when it hosts CCSU. Game time is 7 p.m.
