WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> Fans of the movie
The Replacements will remember the quote, "Winners want the ball with the game on the line." Saint Francis men's basketball head coach said something similar on Friday night about this being the first game that
Eli Wilborn (Middletown, Conn.) demanded the ball. The freshman, on his 20th birthday, finished with a career-high 19 points and added seven rebounds in a 72-66 win against LIU in Northeast Conference action on Friday.
>> Fellow freshman
Bobby Rosenberger III (Quakertown, Pa.) led all scorers with a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing his first career double-double.
>>
Cam Gregory (Accokeek, Md.) added 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals in another stat stuffing affair.
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
Rosenberger gave Saint Francis the lead for good with a layup with 4:46 left in the first half, but the game remained in the balance until the final minutes with the Red Flash sealing its first league win of the year at the free throw line. The Sharks cut the margin to three points twice in the final three minutes and seven seconds. The Frankies scored nine of the last 15 points to secure the win and went 7 of 8 from the free throw line with charity tosses by Gregory, Wilborn, Rosenberger and
Chris Moncrief (Turtle Creek, Pa.). The only field goal the team registered in this stretch was a monster dunk by Wilborn off a feed from Gregory.
FLASH QUOTES
"LIU has some very talented big kids and got them in foul trouble a little bit which played to our strength. Eli demanded the ball and I thought our guys did a good job of getting him the ball in position where he can be successful. I think for the first time in his college basketball career, he demanded the ball. I mean, he did it consistently for 40 minutes when he was in the game. I wasn't calling plays; they were calling plays for him to get the ball in a position where he could be successful."
– head coach Rob Krimmel on Eli Wilborn demanding the ball
"We did a really good job of keeping our composure towards the end of the game and hitting our free throws. I credit to the team for coming in clutch and really stepping up and making the plays that we need to make
." – Bobby Rosenberger III on the game
"They're both extremely talented and they both do things that impact winning that aren't just on the points side of it."
– Krimmel on Wilborn on Rosenberger
"That's his mindset. His mindset changed since he got here and one of the things when we were recruiting him one of his coaches said to us as we were evaluating, he's a winner. The talent part's easy, but when someone stamps that he's a winner it makes the recruiting process easy."
– Krimmel on Rosenberger's mindset
"I would say I've measured my success or my team's winning. That's the main goal of playing basketball is for a team win and for us to come out on top at the end of the game."
– Rosenberger on how to measure success
FLASH MOMENTS
The Rosenberger basket at 4:46 in the first half started a 7-3 run to end the half. Wilborn had three points from the free throw line and Moncrief also had a basket.
In football, if you have the ball to end the first half and get the ball first in the second half it is like doubling up on the points and that is exactly what Saint Francis did in this game. Wilborn extended the Red Flash lead with three free throw to end the half for a 31-27 lead and then Gregory nailed a triple to start the scoring in the final frame for a 34-27 lead with 19:46 on the clock.
After LIU cut the margin to 39-36 with 16:43 left, the Frankies went on a 12-3 run to take its largest lead at 51-39 with 13:16 on the clock. Gregory had seven of the 12 points, while
Aidan Harris (Annapolis, Md.) had a 3-pointer to cap the run and Rosenberger started the surge with a layup.
FLASH NUGGETS
Rosenberger became the third different Red Flash player to post 20 points in a game this season, joining Gregory and
Carlos Lopez, Jr. (Egg Harbor, N.J.). Gregory has three 20-point games and Lopez has two 20-point performances. All six tricks have been turned at DeGol Arena and the trio have posted a 20-point game in four straight in Loretto and six out of the last seven games. The only time in the last in the last six games the team did not have a 20-point scorer at home was against Robert Morris on December 20.
Rosenberger, who established a new career high after scoring 19 points at Penn State on November 21, registered his seventh double-figure performance and marked the third time in the last five home games he has reached double figures. He has five of his seven 10+ games in the Keystone State thanks to his performance at State College and 11 points near his hometown at Lehigh on November 29. The freshman narrowly missed a double-double after finishing with nine rebounds, while he has grabbed at least seven caroms four times this season.
Wilborn, who leads the NEC in double-doubles, did not finish with a traditional double-double unless you count that he finished with 13 fouls drawn by LIU. It was the second time in his career that he has finished with at least 15 points and the fourth time in the last seven games he has reached at least 14 points. The freshman ended with seven rebounds to register at least five rebounds in each of his last 10 tilts. He has also has recorded a block in his last 11 contests.
Gregory finished with 18 points after posting a career-high 25 points in his last game against FDU on January 15. The sophomore has registered at least 18 points six times this season with all six occasions coming at home. He also dished out six assists for the second time this season has three games with at least five assists in his last seven contests.
Wilborn's birthday career high is reminiscent of
Luke Ruggery posting a career-high 18 points against Saint Vincent on his birthday last season on December 8, 2022.
Lopez finished with seven points for the Red Flash.
Krimmel won his 98th career game in league play to tie former LIU head coach Jim Ferry for 13th place on the NEC wins list. The 12-year head man will coach his 200th career NEC game on Sunday to become the 10th NEC head coach to reach that milestone.
It was the third-straight win against the Sharks, marking the fourth time in the series the Red Flash has won at least three straight in the matchup (1986-89 Flash won four straight vs. LIU; 1989-92 Flash won five consecutive vs. LIU; 1992-96 Flash won eight in a row vs. LIU)
NEXT UP
Saint Francis returns to action on Sunday with its first trip to Le Moyne since the Dolphins joined the league. Game time is 2 p.m. The Red Flash has played Le Moyne five times in program history and will be making its first trip to Syracuse since Maurice Stokes first season with the Frankies in 1951-52.
