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| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
4 |
Juan Cranford, Jr. |
6-3 |
205 |
Fr. |
9.4 |
3.3 |
50.5 |
Grabbed a career-high eight boards vs Stonehill |
| GÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
5 |
Daemar Kelly |
6-5 |
195 |
So. |
6.0 |
2.5 |
37.8 |
Looking for first 10+ point game at home |
| G |
11 |
Riley Parker |
6-2 |
195 |
Jr. |
11.1 |
3.7 |
47.0 |
Averaging 15.5 ppg in last two games |
| G |
14 |
Bobby Rosenberger III |
6-5 |
205 |
So. |
12.4 |
4.7 |
45.2 |
Averaging 14.8 ppg against teams from Pennsylvania |
| F |
31 Â Â Â |
Valentino Pinedo |
6-8 |
230 |
Jr. |
8.9 |
6.4 |
50.0 |
Scored 10+ points in four straight |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Chris Moncrief |
6-6 |
190 |
Jr. |
3.4 |
2.2 |
44.7 |
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 |
| F |
3 |
Miles Webb |
6-8 |
190 |
Jr. |
6.1 |
4.2 |
59.7 |
Leads the team in field goal percentage |
| G |
7 |
Jeremy Clayville |
6-0Â Â Â Â |
160 |
Fr. |
8.7 |
2.0 |
41.6 |
Ranks second in NEC in 3-pointers made |
| G |
15 |
Victor Payne |
6-4 |
190 |
Fr. |
2.2 |
1.4 |
38.7 |
Made NEC debut against CCSU |
| 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 |
32 |
Aidan Harris |
6-7 |
205 |
So. |
2.3 |
1.7 |
56.5 |
Season-high seven points vs. Lehigh |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. MERCYHURSTÂ (FULLÂ GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• For the third consecutive season, Saint Francis will play a conference game against a team that joined the Northeast Conference: Stonehill (2022-23), Le Moyne (2023-24) and Mercyhurst (2024-25).
• The Red Flash never played the Skyhawks before the two teams met on December 31, 2022, but the Frankies had a history with the Dolphins dating back to Maurice Stokes and previously played the Lakers.
• Saint Francis was 4-1 against Le Moyne before the Dolphins joined the league last season, while the Red Flash was 4-0 against Mercyhurst in games between the two Keystone teams between 1982 and 1985. Three of the four meetings occurred in Loretto, with the Frankies taking the last meeting 105-81 on December 19, 1985.
• With Mercyhurst joining the league, Pennsylvania will again have two teams in the NEC. Saint Francis and Robert Morris were charter members of the then-ECAC Metro when it started in 1981-82. The Colonials left the league after defeating the Red Flash in the 2019-20 NEC Championship Game. Saint Francis and Robert Morris had some great battles in a series that was once dubbed the Keystone Clash by the league, so hopefully, the series with the Lakers can live up to the same hype.
• Mercyhurst assistant coach
Joe Causgrove is in his first season with the Lakers after serving as the Director of Basketball Operations for Saint Francis from 2021-24. It will be the third time this season that the Red Flash will face one of its former brethren and the second time a former coaching staff member. The squad faced Niagara, and former assistant coach Will Holland, who was an assistant coach in Loretto for three seasons (2013-16). Saint Francis also went up against
Cam Gregory, who played two years at Saint Francis (2022-24) before transferring to Campbell this season.
• If you are a fan of the movie
Dumb and Dumber, you know this sequence between Lloyd Christmas and Mary Swanson: "What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me ending up together?... Not good... You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?... I'd say more like one out of a million.... So, you're telling me there's a chance. YEAH!"
• Saint Francis started the NEC slate 0-2, but you're telling me that we have a chance because there have been teams that start with two losses in league play and win the regular season, win the NEC Tournament, or advance to the NEC Championship Game.
• In 2012-13 (Robert Morris) and 2020-21 (Wagner), both started 0-2 and won the NEC regular season. LIU also started the slate 0-2 and won the NEC Tournament to become the only team in the 43 years of the league to accomplish that feat in 2012-13, while three times (2002-03 [St. Francis Brooklyn], 2004-05 [Wagner], 2008-09 [Mount St. Mary's]) a team started 0-2 and advanced to the title bout.
• After starting the NEC slate at home, the Red Flash will hit the road for three straight and eight of the next 11 games. Saint Francis will make consecutive weekend trips to the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area, starting at FDU on Sunday afternoon.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Pick up its first win of 2025
• Take the first-ever Division I meeting with Mercyhurst and improve to 5-0 against the Lakers
• Move head coach Rob Krimmel within two wins of 100 victories at DeGol Arena in his career
• Be the Red Flash's first NEC win of 2024-25
• Send the Frankies out on its three-game road trip on a winning note
• Improve to 5-3 at home and 4-0 against teams from the Keystone Â
ABOUT THE LAKERS
• Mercyhurst comes into the contest 7-10 overall and 1-1 in Northeast Conference play after falling 62-50 at home against CCSU on Sunday.
• The Lakers had a 258 ranking for the strength of schedule for its non-conference slate. Their best win in non-conference play was a 66-60 win at Sacramento State (NET ranking 330) on November 30. Mercyhurst played three non-Division I teams, including local teams Mount Aloysius and Penn State-Altoona.Â
• Aidan Reichert paced the Lakers with 15 points against the Blue Devils, while Jeff Planutis (10 points) and Max Jusianiec (10 points) also registered double figures.
• Planutis leads the team with 14.8 points per game, while Reichert has a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game and averages 12.4 points per game. Bernie Blunt III is third on the team with 10.2 points per game.
• Mercyhurst head coach Gary Manchel is in his 22nd season with the Lakers and a 1985 graduate of Vermont, meaning that he was in his first year out of college the last time these two teams met.
• Mercyhurst looks to continue the trend of teams moving into the Northeast Conference and having success in its first season. Merrimack (2019-20, 14-4 NEC, won regular season), Stonehill (2022-23, 10-6, finished third) and Le Moyne (2023-24, 9-7, finished fourth) each came into the league and posted a winning league record in its first season.
LAST TIME WE MET
• Lamont Harris tallied 26 points and 13 rebounds to pace Saint Francis to a 105-85 win against Mercyhurst on December 19, 1985.Â
• Jeff Hamilton was the Red Flash's leading scorer in two of the three wins against the Lakers. He registered 30 points and eight rebounds in a 98-78 win on February 11, 1985, and 24 points in the first meeting between the two teams in an 86-82 overtime win on November 29, 1982.Â
• Kent Sisler led the way for the Frankies in an 89-75 win in the only meeting in Erie with 19 points.
LAST TIME OUT
• Despite Saint Francis sophomore
Bobby Rosenberger III scoring 10 points in a two-minute spurt in the final three minutes, Stonehill came away with a 64-60 win on Sunday.
• Rosenberger and junior
Riley Parker finished with 19 points apiece to lead the Red Flash. Junior
Valentino Pinedo added 10 points and seven rebounds.
TRENDING UP
• Junior
Riley Parker has scored double figures in three consecutive games. He averages 17.3 points per game in that stretch with two contests of 19 points or more, including 21 points at Robert Morris on December 21. The Australian native had a streak of five straight 10+ point games before the Red Flash took a break for exams, averaging 16.6 points per game in that span. During those five games, he had two 20-point games, including a career-high 23 points against Lehigh on November 26, while leading the team to a 3-2 record. Parker registered just one assist in a game for the second time this season and the first since playing at Mount St. Mary's on November 16. He has at least three assists in 11 of the 16 games played.
• Sophomore
Bobby Rosenberger III has scored 19 points or more four times this season, including three times at home. Last season, he reached 19 points three times, and two of those games were also at home. The only two times the sophomore had 19 points or more on the road was at Penn State on November 14, 2023, and 20 points at Georgetown on November 23, 2024. The game against Stonehill marked the first time the Red Flash lost a game when Rosenberger had at least 19 points against a team that was not a Power 5 team.
• With Mercyhurst coming to town, Rosenberger has posted double figures in seven of his nine games against his home state. The only two times he has not hit 10 points against a Pennsylvania school was twice against non-Division I teams. The Quakertown native numbers are very similar, averaging 13.6 points per game against the Keystone State overall and at home and 13.8 points away from Loretto and those teams. He is averaging 14.8 points per game this season against his home state, and that is also his average against NCAA Division I teams in his career.
• Junior
Valentino Pinedo has registered double figures in points in his last four games for the longest streak of his career. Pinedo is averaging 12.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his current streak. The junior had back-to-back games in double figures earlier this year against Campbell on November 10 and against Penn State two days later. In the game against the Nittany Lions he registered his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. He averaged 13.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in those two contests.
• Freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. grabbed a career-high eight rebounds against Stonehill. It was the third time he hauled in at least six rebounds in his last seven games. The freshman also had three steals against the Skyhawks, marking the second time Cranford had a career-best in thefts in his previous three games. Not sure if Cranford just loves the holiday season, but he had a seven-game 10+ point streak, with the first game coming two days before Thanksgiving on November 26 and the last two days before Festivus/four days before Christmas, depending on your holiday preference. He averaged 14.7 points per game and shot 60.6 percent from the floor (37-for-61) and 53.1 percent from behind the arc (17-for-32) in those seven games. For his efforts, Cranford paced the NEC in the month of December for 3-point percentage (55.2) and 3-pointers made per game (2.7).
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 14-9 on this date, including 7-1 at DeGol Arena and 9-6 in Northeast Conference play.
• John McLean paced the Frankies with 28 points, while current Saint Francis head coach Rob Krimmel registered 17 points in a 73-58 win against LIU in 2000.
• Darhan Luckey scored 25 points to help Saint Francis overcome a 33-25 halftime deficit for a 78-72 win against Robert Morris in Moon Township in 2005.
• Malik Harmon also had 25 points the next time the Red Flash won on this date in a 77-68 win at Sacred Heart in 2015. Earl Brown added 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win.Â
• Keith Braxton tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds in a 74-67 win against LIU on this date in 2019, the last time the squad played on this date. Isaiah Blackmon paced Saint Francis with 17 points.Â
FUN FACTS
• The Red Flash is 5-0 against Brooklyn teams on this date in Loretto. The Frankies defeated LIU three times (2000, 2002, 2019) and St. Francis Brooklyn twice (1981, 2004). Saint Francis is also 7-0 against the Empire State thanks to a win at Wagner (1987) and a home victory against Marist (1991) on this date.Â
• The Frankies scored 122 points against New Hampshire on this date in 1971 at the War Memorial, the third most points scored in a game in program history. The Red Flash posted a program-record 132 points against Geneva on February 15, 1969, and 127 points against Geneva on December 13, 1968. The only other time the team scored 120 points in a game was against Franciscan on November 23, 2022.
