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| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| F |
3 |
Miles Webb |
6-8 |
190 |
Jr. |
7.3 |
4.5 |
58.9 |
Averaging 10.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg in last 5 games |
| G |
4 |
Juan Cranford, Jr. |
6-3 |
205 |
Fr. |
8.8 |
2.6 |
47.5 |
Scored career-high 21 points at Maryland |
| GÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
5 |
Daemar Kelly |
6-5 |
195 |
So. |
6.5 |
2.6 |
39.2 |
Eight points in each of last two tilts |
| G |
11 |
Riley Parker |
6-2 |
195 |
Jr. |
9.8 |
3.6 |
44.4 |
10 assists last time played a non-DI team |
| G |
14 |
Bobby Rosenberger III |
6-5 |
205 |
So. |
12.3 |
4.8 |
44.2 |
Averaging 15.6 ppg at home this season |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Chris Moncrief |
6-6 |
190 |
Jr. |
3.7 |
2.2 |
45.7 |
Five + rebounds four times this season |
| GÂ |
2 |
Ace Talbert |
6-0 |
185 |
So. |
10.2 |
2.8 |
35.4 |
Averaging 12.8 ppg in last four games played |
| G |
7 |
Jeremy Clayville |
6-0Â Â Â Â |
160 |
Fr. |
9.4 |
2.5 |
42.5 |
10+ points in last two games |
| G |
15 |
Victor Payne |
6-4 |
190 |
Fr. |
2.4 |
1.5 |
38.5 |
Career-high nine points, six boards against Shenango |
| FÂ Â Â Â |
21 |
Gestin Liberis |
6-9 |
225 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Averaged 11.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg in last four games played |
| G |
23Â Â Â Â |
Wisler Sanon II |
6-4 |
190 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Averaging 10.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg in last two games played |
| F |
31 Â Â Â |
Valentino Pinedo |
6-8 |
230 |
Jr. |
6.9 |
6.4 |
48.8 |
Returned to action at UMD after missing four games |
| F |
32 |
Aidan Harris |
6-7 |
205 |
So. |
2.9 |
2.0 |
59.1 |
Season-high seven points vs. Lehigh |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. FRANCISCANÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Thursday's meeting between Saint Francis and Franciscan marks the 41st meeting in the all-time series, dating back to the 1947-48 season.
• Saint Francis is one of the oldest Franciscan schools in the country, founded in 1847, while the Steubenville campus is one of the youngest Franciscan institutions in the country after being established in 1946. Did you know that there are 42 Catholic colleges in the country that are associated with the Franciscan order?
• The Red Flash leads the all-time series 31-9 and has won the last 17 meetings. The Frankies have won all six meetings since the series restarted in 2017-18. The Barons game returns to late December for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The two teams played in December when they renewed the series but played in November for the last three years after not meeting in the COVID-19-shortened season of 2020-21.
• Franciscan's last win in the series was a 64-48 win in Ohio in 1967-68.
• This game marks the 16th time Saint Francis will play a non-Division I opponent under head coach
Rob Krimmel. Franciscan is the third and final non-Division I team on the schedule after the Red Flash defeated Penn State Schuylkill on November 20 and Penn State Shenango on December 4.
• Saint Francis is 15-0 in these contests, averaging 103.4 points per game. The Red Flash is allowing 62.0 points per game in these contests. The Frankies have scored over 100 points in 10 of the 15 games and have not given up more than 77 points against an NCAA Division III team under Krimmel.
• For the second time this season, Saint Francis will play four games in nine days or less. The Red Flash ended a five-game road trip to start the year at Clemson (November 8), Campbell (November 10), Penn State (November 12), and Mount St. Mary's (November 16). This time, the squad will travel to Niagara (December 14), Maryland (December 17), and Robert Morris (December 21) but will also have a short stop in Loretto for its annual game against Franciscan (December 19).
• It will be the sixth time under Krimmel the Red Flash will have four games in 10 days or less. It will be the second consecutive season the squad will turn the trick twice after the team started the 2023-24 season with four road games in a nine-game span and then had four games from November 20-29 last season, including the contest against Niagara. The loss to the Purple Eagles was the only loss during that four-game stretch. The team also had four games in 10 days in 2022-23 and 2014-15. Saint Francis hopes this time will be more like the 2014-15 season and the second span from last year when the Red Flash won three of four in that stretch.
• The interesting wrinkle in this portion of the schedule is that the Frankies had 10 days off before its tilt with Niagara and then will have 13 days off after it completes this four-game stretch over the Christmas/New Year break to get ready for Northeast Conference play on January 3 at home against CCSU.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the 17th consecutive win against Franciscan
• End the non-conference home slate 4-1
• Improve the team to 16-0 against non-Division I teams under head coach Rob Krimmel
• Be team's fifth non-conference win to mark the second straight year the squad has won five non-conference games and the third time under Krimmel
• Give Krimmel 97 career wins at DeGol Arena
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ABOUT THE BARONS
• Franciscan comes into the contest 7-3 after defeating Allegheny College 73-72 on December 14. The Barons will return to Ohio and host Penn State Shenango, who Saint Francis defeated 107-55 on December 4. This game counts as an exhibition for Franciscan.Â
• The Barons come into the contest against the Red Flash with a winning record for the first time since 2018-19 when Franciscan was 6-5.
• Aiden Townsend hit a jumper with three seconds left to propel the Barons to the win. He finished with a team-high 24 points and nine rebounds, while Sawyer Butler ended with 21 points and seven boards.
• Butler leads the team with 19.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Josh Zimmerman averages 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Travis Zimmerman powers the team with 7.2 rebounds per game, averaging 10.7 points per game.Â
LAST TIME WE MET
• Ace Talbert led five Saint Francis players in double figures with 19 points in a 107-54 win against Franciscan on November 22, 2023.
• Gestin Liberis (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Eli Wilborn (14 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double, while Braylen Blue (11 points) and Miles Webb (10 points) also found double figures for the Red Flash. The double-doubles by Liberis and Wilborn were the last time two players had a double-double in the same game until Webb (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Riley Parker turned the trick against Penn State Shenango on December 4.
• Sawyer Butler led the Barons with 11 points, and Joesph Ciola chipped in 10 points. Ciola graduated after last season, but his brother, Anthony, is a freshman on the team in 2024-25.
LAST TIME OUT
• Freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. registered a career-high 21 points in a 111-57 loss at Maryland on Tuesday.
• Freshman
Jeremy Clayville added 11 points.
TRENDING UP
• Freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. has started the last seven games and has recorded double figures in his last five tilts. He registered a career-high 21 points against Maryland on December 17 thanks to 8-for-11 shooting from the floor and 3 of 6 from behind the arc. He has nailed three from downtown in his last two tilts. The freshman is averaging 14.2 points per game during his five-game double-figure streak.
• Cranford became the second freshman under head coach
Rob Krimmel to have a 20-point game against a Power 5 team and the first since Landon Moore had 25 points at No. 25 Miami precisely three years ago on December 17, 2022. The 21 points are the seventh most by a freshman under Krimmel. It is the second time this season a freshman had 21 points in a game after
Jeremy Clayville recorded that total against Penn State Schuylkill on November 20.
• Speaking of Clayville, the freshman has posted back-to-back double-figure games for the second time after recording the trick in the first two games of his collegiate career. He has also recorded double figures twice against Power 5 teams. Clayville has registered a steal in nine of the 11 games he has played, with three games with at least three thefts and a career-high four steals against Penn State Schuylkill.
• After recording back-to-back double-doubles for the first time, junior
Miles Webb posted six points and seven rebounds at Maryland. Webb averages 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in his last five tilts. The junior has posted at least eight points and five rebounds in four of his previous five contests. Despite having a career-high 19 points along with seven caroms against Sacred Heart on January 25, 2024, this is the first time in Webb's career that he has put together consecutive games with at least eight points and five rebounds like the current trend he is currently on.
• Junior
Valentino Pinedo returned after missing four games due to an injury. Not sure if it was an ironic twist, but Pinedo sustained the injury against Georgetown in Washington, D.C., on November 23 and then returned in College Park against Maryland on December 17. The nation's capital and College Park are considered part of the DMV, so Pinedo's last two games were in the same area. The junior played 10 minutes and recorded two rebounds and an assist against the Terrapins. Before the injury, he averaged 9.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in his last four games, with two 10+ point games, two 10+ rebound games, and a double-double. He had double-figure boards in games at Penn State on November 12 and Georgetown and a career-high 15 points at Campbell on November 8, including the game-winning free throw.
• Saint Francis is looking to do something it hasn't done since 1971-72 by scoring 100 points in a game after allowing 100 points to the opponent in the previous game. Saint Francis did it twice in the 1971-72 season, losing to Mississippi 104-96 on December 13, 1972, and then defeated Saint Michael's on December 29, 1972. That team would also start January that year by losing 109-94 to VCU (January 3, 1972), 125-104 to Oral Roberts (January 5, 1972), and 101-82 to Detroit (January 11, 1972). The Frankies have had 100+ games in consecutive games by each team seven times between 1963-72, but this has not happened since.Â
AGAINST THE BUCKEYE STATE
• Saint Francis is 76-69 against teams from Ohio.
• The Red Flash opened the season at Dayton on November 4.
• Franciscan is the only team from the Buckeye State to visit Saint Francis since Youngstown State on November 26, 2011.
• Under head coach Rob Krimmel, the Red Flash has traveled to Cincinnati (2014), Dayton (2013, 2024), Kent State (2015), Ohio State (2022), Ohio University (2021) and Youngstown State (2012). Krimmel is 6-7 against the Buckeye State.
• Franciscan (41 games) and Youngstown State (39 games) are the two most common opponents Saint Francis plays from Ohio.
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 7-9 on this date, including 6-3 at home
• Mercyhurst, who is joining the Northeast Conference in 2024-25, came to Loretto on this date in 1985. The Red Flash defeated the Lakers 105-81 in the last meeting between these two teams. Mercyhurst comes to town on January 10, and the Frankies will play at Erie on January 30 for the first tilt in Erie in the series since an 89-75 Saint Francis win on November 28, 1983.
FUN FACT: Franciscan will be the three current non-Division I teams Saint Francis will play on this date. The Red Flash defeated Waynesburg 93-68 in 1952, Geneva 98-82 in 1970 and Indiana (Pa.) 71-69 in 1987. The Frankies traditionally score over 90 points against non-Division III and has turned the trick four times on this date (Waynesburg, Youngstown State [1959], Geneva and Mercyhurst)
