| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
2 |
Aaron "Ace" Talbert |
6-0 |
185 |
Fr. |
8.3 |
2.0 |
39.9 |
Three straight 10-point performances |
| G |
4 |
Carlos Lopez, Jr. |
6-2 |
170 |
Fr. |
9.1 |
1.7 |
37.8 |
10 points in his last game |
| G |
14 |
Bobby Rosenberger III |
6-5 |
205 |
Fr. |
9.1 |
4.7 |
37.8 |
Career-high 10 rebounds at Stonehill |
| F |
5 |
Eli Wilborn |
6-8 |
215 |
Fr. |
10.6 |
7.6 |
52.6 |
Leads the NEC in offensive rebounds |
| F |
32 |
Aidan Harris |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
4,0 |
4.6 |
42.6 |
Made career-high three treys at Stonehill |
| 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 |
0.4 |
40.9 |
Posted five points and four rebounds at FDU |
| F |
3 |
Miles Webb |
6-8 |
190 |
So. |
4.0 |
2.6 |
41.1 |
Had seven points at Stonehill |
| 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. |
5.5 |
3.4 |
49.1 |
Shot 61,1 percent in two games in New England |
| 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. |
0.4 |
0.4 |
25.0 |
Notched first career points (3) vs. Franciscan |
| G |
30 |
KJ Swain, Jr. |
6-0 |
155 |
Jr. |
1.3 |
0.3 |
66.7 |
Registered first career rebound at Merrimack |
| 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. LE MOYNE (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• The 2023-24 season opened in UCLA on November 6, and the team met Hall of Famer Bill Walton. Former Major League Baseball player Ben McDonald likes to say "just a blink ago" when looking back on his playing career, and that West Coast trip seems like just a blink ago.
• Twenty-eight games and 117 days later, this is where Red Flash basketball stands going into its final regular season game.
• The Frankies can clinch a spot in the upcoming tournament without stepping on the floor on Saturday. After Stonehill's 79-51 loss to Sacred Heart on Thursday, the Skyhawks have to beat CCSU to make Saint Francis hit the court with a postseason berth on the line. The Skyhawks are 0-18 on the road this year.
• Stonehill and CCSU tip at 1 p.m. on Saturday. A Stonehill loss, and the Red Flash is in. A Skyhawks win against the Blue Devils, and the Frankies have to win against Le Moyne to clinch its third-straight berth and 10th time under head coach
Rob Krimmel. A Red Flash loss and a Stonehill win and the Frankies are out.
• Saint Francis should also know the destination for the quarterfinals by tip. After Merrimack's 74-50 win at FDU on Thursday, all the Warriors need is a win against Sacred Heart on Saturday or a CCSU loss to clinch the No. 1 seed. The Merrimack-Sacred Heart game tips at 2 p.m. Of course, a CCSU loss would complicate matters for the Red Flash, as described above. A Merrimack loss and a CCSU win, and CCSU would be the No. 1 seed.
• Le Moyne is in its first season in the NEC and is making its first trip to Loretto for a league game, but it is not the first time the two teams have squared off in Cambria County. The Red Flash are 2-0 against the Dolphins in Loretto, and the last time Le Moyne was in the area for a game was more than just a blink ago. Dr. William "Skip" Hughes was in his sixth season as head coach for the 1950-51 campaign, the season that was the birth of the Red Flash Golden Era and Maurice Stokes' senior season at Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh. Stokes donned the Red Flash jersey for the first time the following season.
• The 1950-51 meeting was the sixth game in an 11-game winning streak that saw the Frankies finish with a 19-4 record.
• That was the last time the two teams played in Loretto, while the two teams played four times from 1948-52. The 1951-52 matchup was in Syracuse, and Stokes was a freshman for Saint Francis, and the Frankies came out with a 79-53 decision. Stokes posted 505 points and averaged 16.8 points per game.
• Did you know Stokes would play at least four games against the Syracuse Nationals in the NBA as a member of the Rochester Royals in Syracuse? He averaged 17.8 points and 19.0 rebounds per game in those contests. He also had 15 points and 30 rebounds in Rochester against the Nationals on February 1, 1956.
• While it will be the third meeting between the two teams in Loretto, it is the fourth battle in Pennsylvania. The two teams played on December 27, 1957, in the first game of the Saint Vincent Tournament. The Frankies defeated Le Moyne that day 71-50 and then downed host Saint Vincent the next day 80-72. That team finished 20-5 and advanced to the National Invitational Tournament for the final time.
• It will be the seventh meeting in the all-time series since the first meeting under Hughes. Both of the Dolphins victories were on their home floor. The first 1949-50 and then the first meeting this season in January.
• For the second time this season, Saint Francis has a bye on Thursday. It is the ninth week of the league season, and the Red Flash looks to help the teams that had the bye on the first day of the two-game weekly schedule finish 9-0. Each of the previous eight teams off on the first day of the week won, including when Saint Francis defeated Stonehill 72-63 on February 10. The Skyhawks returned the favor last week after having off on February 22 to down the Red Flash by the same score on February 24.
• Saint Francis is also best in its first game of the week. All three league wins have come on the first day of competition in the week. Looking at the overall schedule, six of the eight wins came on the first day of competition for the week. The team is 6-9 on the first day of the competition week and 2-11 in the second or third games of the week.
• The Frankies have won back-to-back games twice this season, so the team won the second game of the week two times, but both came in the first nine games of the schedule. The team has lost the last eight games that are the second game of the week. The squad will not be tasked with that opportunity again unless the team advances to the NEC Semifinals.
• Saint Francis is 6-7 at home this season. With a win, the squad would notch its eighth non-losing home record under Krimmel and the 36th time in the 51 campaigns at DeGol Arena. With a win, the Frankies would also finish with a .500 record or better in league play at home for the ninth time under the 12th-year head coach and the 29th time in the 43 years of the NEC.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• End the regular season with a win for the first time since the 2017-18 season and improve the team to 3-2 under head coach Rob Krimmel when the final regular season game is at home
• Improve the team to 7-4 under Krimmel in the last home game of the regular season and end a three-game losing streak in those tilts
• End a four-game losing streak
• Be the team's fourth win in Pennsylvania and third win in Loretto against Le Moyne (first in Keystone state since 1957-58; first in Loretto since 1950-51)
• Finish the home schedule at 7-7
LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis lost 72-63 at Stonehill on February 24.
• Sophomore
Gestin Liberis paced the Red Flash with 12 points and seven rebounds. Freshmen
Carlos Lopez, Jr. and
Aaron "Ace" Talbert finished with 10 points.
• Freshmen
Eli Wilborn (11 rebounds) and
Bobby Rosenberger III (10 rebounds) each posted double figures on the boards, while Wilborn added eight points and three blocks, and Rosenberger had seven points.
ABOUT THE DOLPHINS
•
Le Moyne comes into the contest 13-16 overall and 8-7 in NEC play after defeating Wagner 70-56 on Thursday.
• Le Moyne 4-13 on the road, including 3-4 in league games this season.
• Senior
Darrick Jones, Jr. paced the Dolphins with 21 points, while graduate student
Luke Sutherland (14 points) and graduate student
Kaiyem Cleary (14 points) also posted double figures in the win.
• Cleary leads the team with 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while Sutherland is second on the team with 14.8 points per game.
LAST TIME WE MET
• Le Moyne defeated Saint Francis 94-57 on January 21.
• Freshman
Eli Wilborn paced the Red Flash with 13 points, while fellow freshman
Carlos Lopez, Jr. chipped in 11 points.
•
Luke Sutherland powered the Dolphins with 18 points.
Kaiyem Cleary (15 points),
Isaiah Salter (15 points),
Nate Fouts (11 points),
Trent Mosquera (11 points), and
Darrick Jones, Jr. (10 points) also found double figures in the game.
TRENDING UP
• After missing four games due to injury, sophomore
Gestin Liberis is averaging 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in his last five contests. The sophomore has three games with at least nine points in that stretch. The sophomore now has six double-figure point games in his career and five this season, with four of the six games coming away from Loretto. The two times he posted double figures at home were the only other times in his career that he had recorded consecutive games with double figures, including the first game as a double-double. Liberis had a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds against Franciscan on November 22 and then posted 11 points against Niagara three days later.
• One more interesting tidbit about Liberis is that the sophomore's only 10+ point game as a freshman was in his last regular season road game of 2022-23, so he has registered double figures in his last road game in each of his first two seasons.
• Freshman
Eli Wilborn has 10 double-figure rebound performances and eight double-doubles. In contrast, fellow freshman
Bobby Rosenberger III has one 10+ rebound game in his career and has fallen short of a double-double three times this season. Freshman
Aidan Harris has two double-figure rebound games, but Liberis is the only player besides Wilborn with a double-double and has turned the trick twice.
• Rosenberger twice this season since with at least 19 points and nine rebounds to narrowly miss a double-double. He got over the hump in rebounds against Stonehill in his last game but finished three points shy with seven points. The freshman has scored seven points in back-to-back games after four straight games with at least 15 points. Rosenberger averages 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his last six tilts.
• Similar to Rosenberger, Wilborn had a streak of three straight games with at least 16 points before his eight points at Stonehill. The freshman has averaged 14.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in his last four games. Wilborn also notched his seventh game this season with at least three blocks against the Skyhawks.
• Known for his work on the boards, Harris registered nine points after making three baskets from downtown against Stonehill. It was the third time he has recorded at least nine points in a game this season. Harris also leads the team with 28 steals and has nine games with two thefts and three games with a trifecta of steals, including two of the last three contests.
• Freshman
Aaron "Ace" Talbert has registered three straight games with double figures in points and has 10+ points in four of his last five contests. He has averaged 10.6 points per game in his last five games.
• The Red Flash has produced all five of its 20-point performances on the first game of a conference 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. Rosenberger'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 Talbert's career day of 21 points was also against Stonehill in the only game of that week.
