Saint Francis University (8-18, 3-10 NEC) at Merrimack College (17-10, 11-2 NEC)
Date | Time	Thursday, February 22, 2024 | 7:00 p.m.
Location	North Andover, Mass. | Lawler Arena
Television	NEC Front Row
Live Stats	Sidearm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Merrimack
Stats	Saint Francis | Merrimack | 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.	8.2	2.1	39.8	Scored 10+ points in two of last three tilts
G	4	Carlos Lopez, Jr.	6-2	170	Fr.	9.2	1.7	37.6	Averaged 15.3 ppg in last four games on the road
G	14	Bobby Rosenberger III	6-5	205	Fr.	9.3	4.5	39.3	Averaging 17.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg in last four games
F	5	Eli Wilborn	6-8	215	Fr.	10.5	7.6	52.3	Had career-high 19 points, 16 rebounds in last tilt vs. Merrimack
F	32	Aidan Harris	6-7	205	Fr.	3.8	4.8	41.4	Leads the team with 25 steals
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.	2.2	0.5	45.0	Posted five points and four rebounds in last game
F	3	Miles Webb	6-8	190	So.	3.9	2.6	41.0	Had 10 points at FDU
G	11	Chris Moncrief	6-6	190	So.	2.6	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.	4.8	3.0	46.7	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.	0.5	0.5	25.0	Notched first career points (3) vs. Franciscan
G	30	KJ Swain, Jr.	6-0	155	Jr.	1.7	0.0	66.7	Scored in two of the three games 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. MERRIMACK (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Christmas is one of the favorite holidays for most people, but for most sports fans, the best time of the year is Clinchmas when it is time to discuss the postseason.
• Jim Mora may not want to discuss playoffs, and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens might disguise playoff talk with the word Festivus so they do not get fined, but we can talk about it. For the Saint Francis men's basketball, the magic number is two to clinch a spot in the postseason.
• The Red Flash is fighting Stonehill for the final playoff spot. Saint Francis is two games ahead of the Skyhawks with three games to play.
• If the Red Flash defeats Stonehill on Saturday, it will clinch a playoff spot. A win against Merrimack on Thursday does not clinch a spot but could ultimately be a factor.
• A Frankies victory against the Warriors could be the deciding tiebreaker for Clinchmas if Merrimack is the sole regular-season champion and Saint Francis and Stonehill end in a tie for the last spot.
• Why? The first tiebreaker is head-to-head, and Stonehill has to win on Saturday to make a push, which would mean the two teams split the season series. The second tiebreaker is how you did against the first-place team, so a win against Merrimack coupled with the Warriors as regular season champions would also clinch it for the Red Flash. Are there other scenarios that could come into play? Yes, but we are taking it one game at a time and are focused on Merrimack.
• Thursday's meeting between Saint Francis and Merrimack marks the ninth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 2019-20 season.
• The Warriors lead the series 7-1, but the one win for the Red Flash was in Massachusetts. In the 2021-22 iteration in North Andover, Merrimack jumped out to a 10-1 lead before the Frankies stormed back to earn a 62-46 win. That game was at Hammel Court and Thursday's game will be the first between the two teams at Lawler Arena.
• While the series may seem one-sided by the record and three games have been decided by double figures, including the only Saint Francis win and the meeting earlier this year in Loretto, five of the games have been decided by six points or less. After Saint Francis defeated the Warriors by 16 in Massachusetts, Merrimack earned a one-point win in Loretto in overtime later that season.
• Saint Francis is looking for its first NEC road win of the season after winning two non-conference games at Lehigh on November 29 and American on December 2.
• 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.
• In the first 42 years of the NEC, the Red Flash has won at least one league road game yearly, except the 2008-09 team went 0-9.
• The six-straight losses to start the circuit are tied for the third most in team history. It ties the 1981-82 team while trailing the 2008-09 team and the 1982-83 team that dropped seven consecutive ones to start the circuit.
• Head coach Rob 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.
• 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), American (75-73) 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 seven tilts, with the point difference being three points or less.
• After defeating Sacred Heart 75-72 on January 25, the squad has lost three of its last four games, losses decided by one possession: CCSU (63-62, February 1), LIU (70-67, February 3), Wagner (65-63 ot, February 15).

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 four-game losing streak against Merrimack
• Be the team's second win against the Warriors

LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis lost 93-74 at FDU on Saturday.
• Freshman Eli Wilborn led five Saint Francis scorers with 18 points and 13 rebounds, along with four assists. All four statistics were road career highs for Wilborn.
• Freshman Bobby Rosenberger III posted 15 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Carlos Lopez, Jr. (14 points), freshman Aaron "Ace" Talbert, and sophomore Miles Webb also posted double figures.
• It was the first time the Red Flash had five scorers reach double figures since playing at American on December 2.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
• Winners of eight straight, Merrimack comes into the contest 17-10 overall and 11-2 in NEC play. The Warriors are coming off an 83-68 win against LIU on Saturday.
• Merrimack is 10-1 at home this season, including 6-0 at Lawler Arena. The only loss at home, which was also the last loss for the Warriors, was a 71-65 defeat at the hands of Wagner on January 19 at Hammel Court.
• Sophomores Jordan Derdack and Bryan Etumnu paced the Warriors with 18 points against the Sharks, while freshman Adam "Budd" Clark added 17 points and six assists.\
• Derdack leads the team with 17.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, Clark is second with 12.9 points per game, and junior Devon Savage is also averaging double figures with 10.6 points per game. 

LAST TIME WE MET
• Merrimack defeated Saint Francis 74-55 on January 27 in Loretto.
• Freshman Eli Wilborn fueled the Red Flash with a career-high 19 points and 16 rebounds, while fellow freshman Bobby Rosenberger III added 10 points and six rebounds.
• Adam "Budd" Clark led the Warriors with 30 points. Jordan Derdack tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Elliott Black chipped in 10 points.

TRENDING UP
• Freshman Eli Wilborn started his collegiate career with four double-figure point games in the 13 non-conference games. Since NEC play began, the freshman has posted at least 12 points in 10 of the 13 tilts and five games with at least 14 points. In the last nine games alone, he has seven games with at least 13 points and four games with 16 points or more.
• In the first game of a conference week, Wilborn is averaging 11.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in the seven games. He did have one of his 19-point games on the first league game of the week, but that was also his birthday against LIU on January 19. In the second game of the week, the freshman is averaging 15.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game and has not posted less than 13 points in the six contests.
• Digging a little deeper into the first game versus the second game of the week statistics, the Red Flash has produced all five of its 20-point performances on the first game of the week. Both of freshman Carlos Lopez, Jr.'s games (21 vs. CCSU, January 13 and 22 at CCSU, February 1) were the week's first game. Freshman Bobby Rosenberger III's two games were also the first game of the week (21 points vs. LIU, January 19 and 22 points vs. Stonehill, February 10), while freshman Aaron "Ace" Talbert's career day of 21 points was also against Stonehill in the only game of that week.
• As far as splits, Lopez has the most extensive spread compared to Wilborn, with Lopez averaging 12.4 points per game in the first game of the week and 9.8 points per game in the second contest. He has three 10+ games each day, but his three games on the first day are 14 points or more.
• Rosenberger is close to being even with 11.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game on the first day and 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
• As a team, the Red Flash are 3-4 in the week's first game and have won three of its last five. In addition, three of the previous four games have been decided by four points or less, including the last two losses on Thursday.
• Conversely, the team is 0-6 in the week's second game. The only loss decided by three points at LIU on February 3.
• Back to Rosenberger, the freshman has posted double figures in four straight games and five of his last six. In the only game, he did not register double figures; he was battling an illness and still played 18 minutes. The freshman has averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in his last four games.