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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. |
6.6 |
4.2 |
60.3 |
Leads the team in field goal percentage |
| G |
4 |
Juan Cranford, Jr. |
6-3 |
205 |
Fr. |
9.8 |
2.9 |
53.2 |
Named NEC Rookie of the Week for last games played |
| GÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
5 |
Daemar Kelly |
6-5 |
195 |
So. |
6.2 |
2.6 |
40.0 |
Playing first career NEC game |
| G |
11 |
Riley Parker |
6-2 |
195 |
Jr. |
10.5 |
3.6 |
46.5 |
Posted 21 points at Robert Morris |
| G |
14 |
Bobby Rosenberger III |
6-5 |
205 |
So. |
12.3 |
4.6 |
45.5 |
Ranks fifth in the NEC in scoring |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Chris Moncrief |
6-6 |
190 |
Jr. |
3.6 |
2.2 |
44.2 |
Has five+ rebounds three times at home 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. |
9.8 |
2.9 |
41.9 |
Averaging 10.0 ppg in last five games |
| G |
15 |
Victor Payne |
6-4 |
190 |
Fr. |
2.5 |
1.6 |
40.0 |
Playing against his father's alma mater |
| 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. |
8.4 |
6.1 |
55.2 |
Registered precisely 14 points and five rebounds in last two games |
| F |
32 |
Aidan Harris |
6-7 |
205 |
So. |
2.5 |
1.8 |
56.5 |
Season-high seven points vs. Lehigh |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. CCSUÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Friday's game between Saint Francis and CCSU marks the 56th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1994-95 season.
• The Red Flash leads the all-time series 28-27 and holds a 19-10 advantage at DeGol Arena, but the Blue Devils won all three meetings last season. It was the first time CCSU swept a season series since 2011-12.
• After not meeting in the postseason in the first 25 years the two teams were in the league together, they have met in the Northeast Conference Quarterfinals in the last two seasons.
• The game features two head coaches leading their alma mater. Red Flash fans know head coach
Rob Krimmel's connection to Saint Francis, and CCSU
Pat Sellers is a 1991 graduate of CCSU.
• The NEC has four coaches leading their alma mater, tied for the most in NCAA Division I.
• With Sacred Heart's departure from the league, Sellers and his four seasons are now second to Krimmel's 13 years in the league.
• The game will also feature Saint Francis freshman
Victor Payne facing his father, Victor's alma mater, for the first time. The elder Payne was a four-year letterwinner at CCSU from 1996-00 (also the same years that Krimmel played at Saint Francis) and helped the Blue Devils to their first NEC Tournament title in 1999-00, posting 11 points and eight rebounds in the NEC Championship Game against Robert Morris.
• Saint Francis heads into its 44th NEC opener with a record of 20-23 in the first game of the year. It will be the 22nd time the Red Flash will open the league slate at DeGol Arena. The squad is 15-6 in those contests, with the last two times coming against CCSU in 2022-23 and 2024-25.
• It will be the sixth time CCSU will be the first NEC game of the year for the Red Flash, tying Robert Morris for the most NEC opening opponent in team history. Wagner is third on the list with five games as Saint Francis' first league game of a campaign.
• The Loretto program is 4-1 against the New Britain program in the first league game of the year, including 3-0 at DeGol Arena.
• Saint Francis has posted at least nine wins in four of the previous five times the Red Flash opened the season against the Blue Devils, including a 9-7 league mark after defeating CCSU 80-72 on December 29, 2022.
• The Loretto program also went 10-6 in 1997-98, 10-8 in 2004-05, and 12-6 in 2017-18 after playing the Blue Devils in the year's inaugural game.
• Head coach
Rob Krimmel's NEC first game at the helm in 2012-13 was also against the New Britain program, a 67-60 win on January 3, 2013. The two teams also played on January 3, 1998, in CCSU's first-ever NEC game.
• The Red Flash is 5-7 in the first NEC game of the season under Krimmel, including 5-2 at DeGol Arena.
• Saint Francis will play the preseason favorite in the NEC opener for the fourth time in program history and the second time at home. The Red Flash lost at FDU in 2016-17 and Sacred Heart last season on the road, while falling to Wagner at DeGol Arena in 2021-22 when those teams were the preseason favorite. The Frankies were the preseason favorite in 2017-18 and lost on the road, and in 2018-19 the team opened the season as the favorite at home and won the inaugural circuit contest.
• CCSU and Wagner are the preseason favorite. For the Blue Devils, it is the third time they have been the top pick in the preseason, joining the 2000-01 and 2002-03 teams. Both times, CCSU started the season on the road, losing in the first NEC game of the year in 2000-01 and winning the first tilt in 2002-03.
• The league's preseason favorite is 10-1 at home and 6-10 on the road in the first conference game of the year dating back to the 1997-98 season. Before last season, a preseason favorite started on the road in four straight years, going 1-3.
• The preseason favorite has gone on to win the NEC Tournament title five times (1995-96, 1998-99, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2022-23), while six times the preseason favorite has advanced to the title game (1992-93, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2014-15, 2018-19, 2021-22).
• The team that wins the NEC Tournament title is 11-3 at home and 7-5 on the road in the first contest in the circuit on the year.
• The Loretto team has also started the league slate against the team that would win the NEC Tournament title twice: 1989-90 (Robert Morris) and 2020-21 (Mount St. Mary's).
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Improve the Red Flash to 3-0 against CCSU on January 3
• Open the NEC slate with a win for the 21st time in program history and the sixth time under head coach Rob Krimmel
• Register a win against the NEC preseason favorite for the first time in team history
• Give Krimmel a Happy 12th Anniversary of his first career win, also against CCSU on January 3, 2013
• Be the first win in 2025
• Be the team's fifth win in Loretto
ABOUT THE BLUE DEVILS
• CCSU comes into the NEC opener with a 9-4 record after defeating NCAA Division I Johnson & Wales on Sunday.
• Despite having a NET Strength of Schedule ranking of 260, the Blue Devils hold a quad two 73-67 win against Saint Joseph's, a quad three 69-56 win against Holy Cross, and posted a 5-1 record against quad four teams.
• Jordan Jones paced the Blue Devils with 18 points against Johnson and Wales, while Joe Ostrowsky (14 points), Darin Smith, Jr. (14 points), Abdul Momoh (13 points), Devin Haid (11 points, 10 rebounds), Jayden Brown (11 points) and Max Frazier (10 points) also had double figures.
• Head leads the team with 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Jones (12.1 ppg.) and Brown (10.9 ppg.) also average double figures.
LAST TIME WE MET
• CCSU defeated Saint Francis 71-62 in the NEC Quarterfinals on March 6, 2024.
• Eli Wilborn paced the Red Flash with 19 points. Aidan Harris and Gestin Liberis each had 10 points.Â
• Allan Jean-Rose fueled the Blue Devils with 28 points, and Jordan Jones added 18 points.
• The Frankies grabbed a 57-49 lead with 8:25 left on a triple by Ace Talbert, but CCSU closed the game on a 21-5 run to come away with the victory.Â
LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis ended non-conference play with a 90-77 loss at Robert Morris on December 21.
• Junior
Riley Parker paced the Red Flash with 21 points, while freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. (19 points), junior
Valentino Pinedo (14 points), and sophomore
Bobby Rosenberger III (11 points) also had double figures.
TRENDING UP
• Freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. enjoyed his last week of games in 2024 and hopes to carry that momentum into 2025. The freshman averaged 17.7 points per game and shot 80.0 percent (20-for-25), from the floor and 68.8 percent (11-for-16) from behind the arc in his last three games to earn NEC Rookie of the Week. He posted a career-high 21 points at Maryland on December 19 and his second-best output to date with 19 points at Robert Morris four days later. He has posted double figures in seven straight games with three games of 15 points or more in that stretch.
• Cranford is the first freshman under head coach
Rob Krimmel to post seven straight games in double figures in points. Landon Moore had six consecutive 10+ point games before a hand injury derailed his season, and he just missed a seventh 10+ point game in his return game against CCSU in the NEC Quarterfinals. If you are curious about Keith Braxton, he had 10+ points in five straight games three times in 2016-17 but never had six consecutive. Cranford is also the first freshman since Braxton to register double figures in seven of his first nine starts.
• Junior
Riley Parker registered his team-leading third 20-point game against Robert Morris. It was also his first 10+ point game in five games after registering five consecutive double-figure point games that included his first two 20-point games. Since November 20 against Penn State Schuylkill, Parker has had 45 assists, averaging 5.0 assists per game.
• Junior
Valentino Pinedo has posted 14 points and five rebounds in his last two games to look ready for conference play after missing four games due to an injury. In the previous five games he played before the injury, the junior averaged 9.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game with two 10+ points and two 10+ rebound games. He registered a career-high 15 points against Campbell on November 10 and had 12 rebounds at Penn State on November 12 and 11 boards at Georgetown on November 23.
• Sophomore
Bobby Rosenberger III has scored double figures in back-to-back games after registering seven points against Niagara on December 14 and zero points at Maryland. He has 10+ point scoring streaks of five and four games this season. The game at Niagara was after a 10-day layoff.
• Freshman
Jeremy Clayville had his streak of three-straight 10+ point games stopped at Robert Morris, but is still averaging 10.0 points per game in his last five games.
WRAPPING UP NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
• Saint Francis enters league play with a 5-9 record. It is the second-straight year and third time overall that the team starts NEC play after a five-win non-conference slate.
• Saint Francis had the most challenging non-conference schedule among the NEC teams, with a strength of schedule ranking of 30. The Red Flash played four quad one teams, one team for quad two and three, and five quad four teams. The two NCAA DI wins came from quad four.
• Here is a look at the rest of the NEC's NET strength of schedule: Chicago State (55), Wagner (140), FDU (150), Mercyhurst (172), Stonehill (226), LIU (239) and CCSU (260). Â
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 11-12 on this date, including 6-2 at DeGol Arena.
• The Red Flash will open the NEC slate for the fourth time in program history; two other occasions were also on this date, head coach Rob Krimmel and former assistant coach Eric Taylor were a part of both games.Â
• Taylor paced the Red Flash with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Frankies past the Blue Devils 76-47 in 1998 in New Britain. Sotiris Angelou (17 points), Jamal Ragland (12 points) and Tom Fox (10 points) also had double figures in the game. Krimmel played off the bench in the contest.
• Fifteen years later, Krimmel and the Flash defeated CCSU 67-60 for his first win as a head coach in Loretto in 2013 (12 years ago). Earl Brown tallied 16 points and 25 rebounds, while Umar Shannon added 19 points and eight assists. Ronnie Drinnon (12 points) and Dominique Majors (12 points) also found double figures. NOTE: Krimmel has had two players grab 20 boards in a game, and both played in this game. Brown's 25 caroms are the most under the coach, while Drinnon would have 22 rebounds against FDU (March 2, 2016).
FUN FACTS
• January 3 marked the first game of a calendar year in 20 of the 23 times the Frankies played on this date (1973-74, 1975-76, and 1986-87 are the three exceptions).
 • This will be the 10th time Saint Francis will play a Northeast Conference game since 1990-91 on this date. The Red Flash are 5-1 on this date when the game is the league opener for the team. In 2001-02, 2007-08, and 2008-09, Saint Francis played at least one conference game in December and then played on this date.
 • It will be the fourth straight time the team will play on January 3 at home and are riding a three-game winning streak after defeating CCSU (67-60, 2013), Wagner (85-68, 2015), and Mount St. Mary's (80-69, 2019) at DeGol Arena on this date.
