Saint Francis University (8-17, 3-9 NEC) at FDU (12-14, 6-5 NEC)
Date | Time	Saturday, February 17, 2024 | 1:00 p.m.
Location	Hackensack, N.J. | Bogota Savings Bank Arena
Television	NEC Front Row (Sitesh Shah, play-by-play; Tom Green, color analyst)
Live Stats	Sidearm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | FDU
Stats	Saint Francis | FDU | Northeast Conference
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB  | #BELIEVE | @RedFlashMBB | Facebook

 

Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	2	Aaron "Ace" Talbert	6-0	185	Fr.	8.1	2.0	39.8	Career-high 21 points vs. Stonehill
G	4	Carlos Lopez, Jr.	6-2	170	Fr.	9.0	1.6	36.8	Averaged 18.5 ppg on last road trip
G	14	Bobby Rosenberger III	6-5	205	Fr.	9.0	4.4	39.6	Averaging 18.0 ppg and 7.3 rpg in last three games
F	5	Eli Wilborn	6-8	215	Fr.	10.2	7.4	52.5	Posted 16 points and eight rebounds in last game
F	32	Aidan Harris	6-7	205	Fr.	3.9	4.9	35.1	Registered five rebounds in last seven games
Off the Bench
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	0	Cam Gregory	6-5	165	So.	13.4	2.9	43.6	Averaging 21.5 ppg and 5.0 apg in last two games played
G	1	Braylen Blue	6-5	180	Fr.	1.9	0.2	50.0	Appeared in three league games
F	3	Miles Webb	6-8	190	So.	3.6	2.5	40.2	Had a career-high 19 points against Sacred Heart on Jan. 25
G	11	Chris Moncrief	6-6	190	So.	2.7	1.3	42.6	Six points and three assists vs. Merrimack on Jan. 27
G	13	Blaze Angellotti	6-4	195	Fr.	0.0	0.0	0.0	Made collegiate debut vs. Franciscan on Nov. 22
G	15	Aaron Humphrey, Jr.	6-7	210	Fr.	1.7	1.0	33.3	Career-high five points, four rebounds vs. Franciscan
G	20	Brendan Scanlon	5-8	175	So.	--	--	--	Out for the year with a leg injury
F	21	Gestin Liberis	6-9	225	So.	5.0	3.0	47.7	Nine points against Wagner in both meetings
F	22	Ryen Gresko	5-11	170	Fr.	0.0	1.0	0.0	Had a rebound in collegiate debut vs. Franciscan
G	23	Wisler Sanon II	6-4	190	So.	3.7	2.0	35.1	Averaging 10.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg on last road trip
G	24	Keshawn McNeill	6-1	180	R-Fr.	0.8	0.5	33.3	Notched first career points (3) vs. Franciscan
G	30	KJ Swain, Jr.	6-0	155	Jr.	2.1	0.2	66.7	Scored in both games he has played
G	33	Will Helton	6-4	175	Jr.	--	--	--	Redshirting this season and will not play
F	42	Daric Danchanko	6-8	240	So.	--	--	--	Redshirting this season and will not play

SELECT GAME NOTES VS. FDU (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker, said, "There is no elevator to success; you have to take the stairs." As Saint Francis men's basketball head coach Rob Krimmel says, "There is a thin line between winning and losing." It has been a slow climb with one of the youngest teams in the country.
• The Red Flash has played seven games decided by three points or less, which are the most in the Krimmel era. The 2014-15 and 2019-20 teams held the mark, with six times a game decided by a possession before this season.
• The Frankies were 3-1 in non-conference play in one-possession games with back-to-back wins at Lehigh (62-61, November 29) and American (75-73, December 2) and Campbell (78-76, December 30). The lone loss was Robert Morris (75-73, December 20).
• Saint Francis then played six conference games with the closest margin being six points, but has now played four times in the last six tilts, with the point difference being three points or less.
• After defeating Sacred Heart 75-72 on January 25, the squad has lost its last three games, losses decided by one possession: CCSU (63-62, February 1), LIU (70-67, February 3), Wagner (65-63 ot, February 15).
• The overtime game against the Seahawks was the first overtime tilt this season for Saint Francis, the 22nd time under Krimmel, and the 19th time in league play.
• The last four overtime games have occurred in Loretto. The previous extra session game on the road was a 75-70 loss at LIU on January 8, 2021, while LIU, FDU, and CCSU have played the most OT games in the Krimmel era with three occasions each.
• Saint Francis honored the Golden Era of Saint Francis basketball on Thursday night, considered 1950-72. The last time the Frankies played consecutive overtime games was Maurice Stokes's final two games in a Saint Francis uniform in the 1954-55 NIT against Dayton (March 17, 1955) and Cincinnati (March 19, 1955). Stokes then had a program that recorded 43 points against Dayton.
• The wins against Lehigh and American are the only time Saint Francis has won back-to-back games this season, and the team's only victories are on the road.
• Last season, the team did not win a non-conference game on the road but was victorious three times in conference play against the three New York teams in the league last season.
• In the first 42 years of the NEC, the Red Flash has won at least one league road game every year, but the 2008-09 team went 0-9.
• The five straight losses to start the circuit are the fourth most in team history, trailing the 2008-09 team, the 1981-82 team that lost six straight, and the 1982-83 team that dropped seven consecutive ones to start the circuit.
• Krimmel's 2018-19 team has the most road wins for the Flash, with six wins away from Loretto in league play.
• Saint Francis has won one game in the NEC six times in team history: 1981-82, 1982-83, 1990-91, 1998-99, 2011-12 and 2020-21. NOTE: The 2020-21 season teams played two games series at one location due to COVID-19.
• Saint Francis and FDU will tangle for the 104th time in program history, dating back to the 1954-55 season.
• It will also be the first meeting between the two teams in the Garden State since last year's NEC Semifinals game.
• The Knights have won the last two in the series to take a 52-51 edge.
• FDU defeated the Frankies 81-71 in Loretto on January 15.
• Before the last two wins for the Knights at home in the series, the Red Flash had won four straight games at the newly minted Bogota Saving Bank Arena.
• With four games to play for Saint Francis, the Red Flash begins a three-game road trip with stops at FDU (Saturday), Stonehill (February 22) and Merrimack (February 24).
• The Red Flash is two games ahead of Stonehill for the final playoff spot and holds the tiebreaker now, thanks to a 72-63 win in Loretto on February 10.
• Saint Francis and Stonehill both have a win against a 6-5 team in the schedule with the Red Flash's win against Sacred Heart, while Stonehill beat Wagner, so it will be an interesting final stretch. As Amy Dickinson said, "Climb aboard life's elevator, hit the "up" button, and see where it takes you."

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the first NEC road win of the year
• Be the first road win since December 2 at American
• End a two-game losing streak in Hackensack
• End a two-game skid against the Knights

LAST TIME OUT
• Freshman Bobby Rosenberger III made a great football pass to fellow freshman  Eli Wilborn with two seconds. Wilborn got a great shot off as time expired, but the ball bounced off the rim in Saint Francis' 65-63 overtime loss to Wagner on Thursday.
• Rosenberger and Wilborn paced the Red Flash with 16 points. Rosenberger had seven rebounds, while Wilborn posted eight boards, two assists, and two steals.
• Sophomore Gestin Liberis added nine points on the night thanks to 4-for-5 shooting.
• It was the first overtime game for the Frankies this season on a night when three of the four league games played an extra session.

ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
• FDU comes into the contest 12-14 overall and 6-5 in NEC play after defeating LIU 84-82 in overtime on Thursday.
• Junior Ansley Almonor paced the Knights with 19 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Terrance Brown (17 points), graduate student Heru Bligen (14 points), and sophomore Jo'el Emanuel (13 points) also scored double figures in the win.  
• Almonor leads the team with 16.6 points per game, while Senior Sean Moore paces the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg.) and ranks second in scoring (12.0 ppg.) Emanuel is also averaging double figures in points with 11.4 points per game.

ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis is 2-10 on the road, and the team averages 59.0 points per game away from DeGol Arena.
• Conversely, the Red Flash is 6-7 at home, and the squad is averaging 71.5 points per game in Loretto.
• Saint Francis has had a player score 15 or more 25 times this season, but only five times has a player posted 15 points or more on the road.
• Freshman Carlos Lopez, Jr. became the first 20-point scorer on the road since the final regular season road game last season at LIU on February 18, 2023, with his 22-point performance at CCSU on February 1. Lopez has scored double figures in his last three games away from DeGol Arena and is averaging 16.0 points per game in that stretch.
• Freshman Bobby Rosenberger III has three of the five games with 15+ points thanks to a 19-point performance at Penn State on November 14, 16 points at American on December 2, and 16 points at LIU on February 3. The 16 points at American are the most scored by a player in a Red Flash win.
• The Red Flash had three players score 20 points in a game last season on the road for a total of 11 times.
• Before freshman Eli Wilborn's career-high 16 rebounds against Merrimack on January 27 at DeGol Arena, the best rebounding marks occurred on the road. Freshman Aidan Harris had 15 rebounds against Lehigh on November 29, and Wilborn posted 13 boards against Iona on December 10 and Wagner on January 8.
• Wilborn has registered double figures in rebounds in four of the last seven games on the road.

TRENDING UP
• One of the great lines from the movie "Speed," which also contains an excellent elevator scene, is "Pop, quiz hot shot," so the question is, what duo has the most 10+ point games this season? You don't have to harm Jeff Daniels to know it is freshmen Bobby Rosenberger III and Eli Wilborn. With nine games, both players scored double figures, including Thursday's night overtime game.
• Rosenberger has registered double figures in the last three games and is averaging 18.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in that stretch, including a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds against Stonehill on February 10. The freshman has also crashed the boards with at least six caroms in six of his last eight games.
• Wilborn has double figures in a team-best 15 games this season, including nine times in his last 12 games. The freshman also has at least seven rebounds in nine tilts in that stretch and has 10 assists in his previous three games.
• According to @nechoopsron, Wilborn, who is third in the NEC in blocks (1.76), fourth in field goal percentage (55.1), and second in rebounding (7.4), is looking to become the first freshman since CCSU's Kyle Vinales (scoring, free throws, 3-pointers made) to finish in the Top-5 in the NEC in three categories in 2011-12. Before that, you'd have to go back to the 1999-00 season when future NEC Player of the Year Corsley Edwards ended his freshman campaign rated in the Top in rebounding and field goal percentage blocks.
• Freshman Aidan Harris continues to rack up the rebounds with his seventh-straight game with at least five boards. The freshman scored five, six, seven, eight, and nine-point games in that stretch. He is averaging 6.0 points and 6.7 points per game in that span.
• Freshman Carlos Lopez, Jr. averages 12.3 points per game since returning to the starting lineup in the last five games. The freshman, tied for the team lead with three 20-point games, averaged 5.0 points per game in his first five starts of the year. Lopez ranks fourth on the team with nine games in double figures this season. The Egg Harbor, N.J., native will be playing his first collegiate game in his home state. He is averaging 10.5 points per game in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, with a 15-point game at LIU on February 3, his last game in the area.