>> Saint Francis drops its season opener at Dayton 87-57 in Monday's non-conference men's basketball action.
paced the Red Flash with 14 points. The freshman dropped 12 of his 14 points in the first half thanks to four 3-pointers.
TURNING POINTS OF THE MATCH
After the Red Flash cut the deficit to 23-20 on Clayville's third triple of the game at 8:17 left in the first half, the Flyers went on a 17-8 run to end the half and never looked back to earn the season-opening victory.
FLASH QUOTES
""It was a challenging first game, first opponent for our guys, especially in the physicality standpoint. We did a good job in the first half, weathering those jitters to start the game. We were getting good shots that didn't fall in the first half, and in the second half, they willed their style. It's something to build on to be better next time out—the important thing for us when those teams shoot those shots that we get in there and rebound."
– head coach Rob Krimmel on the game
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FLASH MOMENTS
Rosenberger scored the first five points for the Red Flash on a reverse layup at 19:24 and splashed a 3-pointer at 16:21 to trim the margin to 6-5.
Clayville knocked down his first collegiate basket, a 3-pointer, with 12:57 left in the first half. The freshman keyed a 10-3 run to trim a 20-10 deficit and make it a three-point game at 23-20 thanks to a pair of 3's in the run.Â
Juan Cranford, Jr. made a pull-up jumper at 10:29 in the first half for his first collegiate points.
Riley Parker had his first Division I bucket on a floater in the lane at 5:31 in the first half.
Victor Payne registered his first career points on a basket off the glass at 10:40 in the second half.
FLASH NUGGETS
Clayville's 14 points in his debut were the most since Landon Moore had 15 points at Saint Bonaventure to open the 2022-23 season.
Rosenberger notched double figures for the 14th time in his career and his 15th game with at least five rebounds. The sophomore captain tied his career high with two blocks.
Cranford, who was playing in his hometown and has played at the University of Dayton Arena, narrowly missed his first double-figure point game, finishing with nine points.
Chris Moncrief added eight points to come within two points for the fourth time in his career.
Parker stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, five assists, and four points.
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This season marks the 70th Anniversary of the 1954-55 Saint Francis team that advanced to the National Invitation Tournament Final Four. Maurice Stokes' played his final season in a Frankies' uniform and scored a then program-record 43 points against Dayton in the semifinals in the first-ever meeting against the Flyers.
Monday's meeting was the eighth meeting in the all-time series, with all the games in Dayton except the NIT game. It was the second meeting between the two teams since the turn of the century.
It was the sixth time in program history that Saint Francis opened a campaign against an Atlantic-10 team under head coach
Rob Krimmel.
NEXT ON TAP
On Friday, Saint Francis returns to action and continues its five-game road trip at Clemson. Game time is 7 p.m.
