Saint Francis University (2-8) at Temple University (5-5)
Date | Time	Sunday, December 14, 2025 | 12 p.m.
Location	Philadelphia, Pa. | Liacouras Center
Television	ESPN+ (Ray Dunne, play-by-play; Marc Jackson, analyst)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Temple
Stats	Saint Francis | Temple | NEC
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB  | #BELIEVE | @RedFlashMBB | Facebook

 

Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	2	Zion Russell	6-2	185	R-Sr.	11.0	4.6	36.9	Averaging 16.3 ppg in game after being held under 10 pts
G	F	Skylar Wicks	6-6	190	R-Sr.	18.4	8.0.5	41.7	Paces NEC and ranks nationally in defensive rebounds
G	15	Victor Payne	6-4	190	So.	5.9	4.2	35.8	Averaging 9.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg in last five tilts
F	21	Gestin Liberis	6-9	225	R-Jr.	5.3	4.6	50.0	Averaging 8.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg in last five games
G	55	Ahmad Harrison	6-1	190	Sr.	6.8	1.8	40.0	Ranks fifth in NEC in steals
Top Players Off the Bench
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	1	KJ Swain, Jr.	6-1	165	R-Sr.	2.3	0.9	28.6	Career-high seven assists in last home game
G	0	Chris Moncrief	6-6	190	Sr.	3.3	0.7	40.0	Returned to action at Radford
G	3	Brandon Russell	6-5	185	Fr.	3.6	1.9	24.4	Career-high 7 pts, 8 rebs, 6 asts in last home game
G/F	4	Ralph Martino, Jr.	6-6	180	So.	5.8	2.3	60.0	Career-high 12 points in last home game
G	7	Paris Papadatos	6-4	185	Fr.	12.0	2.0	50.0	NEC Rookie of the Week
F	20	Cam Tweedy	6-6	240	R-Sr.	5.0	3.4	51.2	Ranks fifth on the team in rebounding

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

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Sunday's game between Saint Francis and Temple marks the seventh meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1923-24 season. It will also be the first meeting between the two Keystone State teams in 55 years.
• The Owls have won the last four meetings in the series, including the last time the two teams met with an 84-75 win in the Quaker City Tournament in 1970-71.
• The Red Flash won the first two meetings in the series, including an 85-69 win on February 12, 1955, in Loretto, led by NBA Hall of Famer Maurice Stokes. It was Stokes' final season in a Frankie's uniform, and he registered 26 points against the Owls in his third-to-last game in front of the home crowd. The 26 points were the fourth-lowest total in his final 10 games. Stokes would register at least 30 points in four of his final six games on his way to leading Saint Francis to the NIT Semifinals and being named the Tournament MVP.
• The last three games in the series have been in the City of Brotherly Love, but only the 1956-57 meeting was on Temple's hardwood.
• It will be the first time the Red Flash will be in Philadelphia since the 2019-20 season, when the Frankies played at Saint Joseph's. Adrian asked Rocky to do one thing for her, and that is exactly what Saint Francis did as the Red Flash defeated the Hawks 79-63 on November 30, 2019, for Rob Krimmel's 100th win as a head coach.
• First-year head coach Luke McConnell, who was an assistant coach on that team, would love a milestone of his own with his first win against a Division I opponent on Sunday.
• This will be the second time Saint Francis will play a team from the American Conference and the first since falling 52-37 at Cincinnati to open the 2014-15 season on November 14, 2014.
• Not counting Temple, the Red Flash is 7-6 against teams currently associated with the American Conference, but has not played any of those teams since the 1990-91 season, when UAB defeated the Frankies on December 22, 1990.  Saint Francis is 5-3 against East Carolina, with the last matchup coming in 1972-73, 1-0 against North Texas with its last meeting coming in 1973-74, 1-1 against Army with the last dance against the Black Knights being in 1985-86 and 0-1 against Rice with that tilt taking place in 1969-70.
• Temple head coach Andy Fisher arrived at Penn State in 2002-03 as a student manager, and the Red Flash and Nittany Lions played in three of the four years he was there as an undergraduate, with Penn State winning the last seven meetings in the series. Fisher came back to Penn State twice and was the Video Coordinator/Director of Player Development when the Nittany Lions defeated the Red Flash to open the 2012-13 season with a 65-58 win on November 9, 2012.
• McConnell was in his first season as a graduate assistant in the Saint Francis athletics department for that meeting before joining the men's basketball staff in the 2014-15 season, so this will be the first time McConnell and Fisher will meet on the hardwood.
• After the game against Temple, Saint Francis will travel to face defending national champion Florida on Wednesday. The Gators are ranked No. 18 in the country. The last time the Red Flash faced a nationally-ranked team was No. 25 Miami on December 17, 2022. Fisher was an assistant coach at Miami, but was back at Penn State for that meeting. 

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Be the team's third win of the season and third win in the Keystone State
• Be the team's first win on the road in 2025-26
• Give Luke McConnell his first win as a head coach against a Division I opponent after two wins against Division III teams
• Be Saint Francis' first win against an American Conference team in its second attempt (Cincinnati, 2014) 
• Be the team's first win against Temple since Maurice Stokes' senior year
• Be the team's first victory against the Owls in the City of Brotherly Love in four attempts

ABOUT THE OWLS
• Temple comes into the contest 5-5 after defeating NCAA Division II Georgian Court 103-55 on Tuesday.  The Owls' best win to date is an 81-76 win against Hofstra, with a net ranking of 95 in quadrant three.  Temple is 0-1 against quadrant one (Villanova), quadrant two (UC San Diego), and 1-1 against quadrant three and 4-2 against quadrant four. Sunday's matchup against Saint Francis will be the Owls' third-straight game against a quadrant four or below. Temple lost to Saint Joseph's 70-69 on December 6 before its game against Georgian State. 
• Darian Ford (18 points), Aiden Tobiason (17 points), Gavin Griffiths (14 points), Masiah Gilyard (11 points), Cam Wallace (11 points), and Jordan Mason (10 points, 11 rebounds) each posted 10+ in Temple's last game.
• Ford leads the team with 17.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, while Tobiason is second with 14.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.  Griffiths (10.3 ppg.) and Mason (10.0 ppg.) are also averaging double figures for the Owls.

LAST TIME WE MET
• Temple defeated Saint Francis 84-75 in the opening round of the 10th Annual Quaker City Tournament at the Spectrum on December 26, 1970. 
• Each team was led by a future NBA player. Kevin Porter was drafted in the third round (39th pick) of the 1972 draft by the Baltimore Bullets and would enjoy an 11-year NBA career, during which he was the NBA assist leader four times (1975, 1978, 1979, 1981).
• For the Owls, Ollie Johnson was drafted in the second round of that same draft (30th pick) by the Portland Trailblazers.  He played 10 years in the NBA.

LAST TIME OUT
• Radford defeated Saint Francis 89-65 on December 7. The Red Flash had the week off after the game against the Highlanders for final exams.
• Freshman Paris Papadatos led the Red Flash in scoring with 15 points, while redshirt senior Skylar Wicks added 14 points.

TRENDING UP
• After starting his collegiate career, 1-for-9 freshman Paris Papadatos is shooting 70.5 percent (12-for-17) from the field and 54.5 percent from 3-point land (6-for-11) in the last three halves that he has played. The freshman becomes the first Red Flash freshman since Landon Moore to post over 30 points in his first three games since Landon Moore in 2022-23, and the first freshman to have two 10+ point games in his first three tilts since Jeremy Clayville last season.  Papadatos, who has a pair of 15-point games in his last two games, looks to become the first freshman with three 10+ point games in his first four games since Moore, who had five straight 10+ point games to start his career. Papadatos only played four minutes in his first game back from injury at Xavier on December 1. 
• Looking back on the 2022-23 season again, redshirt senior Skylar Wicks is the first Frankie to start a season with eight-straight 10+ point games since Josh Cohen in that season. Cohen did not fall into single digits once that season and had at least 15 points in 24 of the 31 games played. Wicks has started his career in a Red Flash uniform by scoring at least 15 points in seven of the eight games he has played.  The redshirt senior is also trying to follow Cohen's footsteps in rebounds after Cohen only had two games with four or fewer rebounds in his 31 games that season. Wicks has at least five rebounds in seven of the eight games he has played. Wicks also has 11 assists in his last three tilts including a career high six at Xavier.
• One more note about Wicks. He is the closest connection to the American Conference for the Red Flash. Wicks played in 10 games with one start at UTSA last season in non-conference play.
• Senior Chris Moncrief returned to the floor for the first time since the opening minutes against TCU on November 6 against Radford on December 7. Moncrief, who had three points and a rebound against the Highlanders, was one of the key contributors to the 2025 NEC Tournament championship run. He helped the Red Flash go 8-3 in the final 11 games of the season. Moncrief averaged 10.0 points per game in that stretch and secured the steal in the waning seconds of the game against the Blue Devils to clinch the first title in 34 years for the Loretto program.
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell is averaging 10.3 points per game in his last three games. He was held to single digits in his last game at Radford, but he has not recorded back-to-back games under 10 points this season. He is averaging 16.3 points per game in the next game after he did not score 10+ points, including a career-high 23 points against Mount St. Mary's on November 11. 
• Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis is averaging 8.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his last five tilts. During that stretch, he has recorded at least five rebounds in all five games, with two games in which he matched his career high with 10 caroms. He also registered back-to-back double-figure point games for the first time in his career in this stretch.
• Sophomore Victor Payne has registered the best five-game span of his career, averaging 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his last five tilts. He registered consecutive career-high 15-point games to start this stretch and has grabbed six, eight, and nine rebounds during this run. The nine boards were also a career-high. The sophomore was inserted into the starting lineup against Lehigh on November 18 and has started the last seven games. 

LEAGUE LEADERS
•Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks leads the NEC in defensive rebounds (6.63) and ranks second in minutes per game (35.4), second NEC in scoring (18.4 ppg.), third in rebounding (8.0 rpg.),  third in free throw percentage (82.8), fifth in assists per game (3.13), fifth in 3-pointers per game (2.13), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.93) and 10th in steals per game (1.38).
• Wicks ranks 26th in defensive rebounds per game. 49th in minutes per game, 73rd in rebounding, 75th in scoring and 89th in double-doubles (2) in NCAA Division I.
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell is ninth in assists per game (2.70) and 18th in scoring (11.0 ppg.).
• Senior Ahmad Harrison is fifth in steals per game (1.60).
• Saint Francis ranks third in the NEC in free throw percentage (72.5), third in assists (14.10), and fourth in defensive rebounds (25.80). 

IN THE KEYSTONE
• Sunday's game against Temple marks the third of six games against fellow teams from the Keystone State this season.
• Saint Francis played at Lehigh on November 18 (L, 62-79) and will also head to Mercyhurst (February 5), while the Red Flash will welcome Penn State Shenango (W, 100-41, December 3), Robert Morris (December 20), and Mercyhurst (February 14) to Loretto.
• The Red Flash is 234-216-1 all-time against teams from the Keystone State and 50-98 since joining the NEC. The Loretto program is 13-60 on the road against the Commonwealth since joining the NEC. 
• Saint Francis has played the most games against teams from the western part of the state in program history. The Red Flash has tangled with Robert Morris more than any other team in the state, with 93 meetings. Duquesne has been on the squad 75 times, Saint Vincent 65 times, Westminster 43 times, Geneva 39 times, and Pittsburgh 30 times.

ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis is 0-7 away from Loretto, but has played two quadrant one teams (Oklahoma and TCU), two quadrant two teams (Belmont and Xavier), a quadrant three (Troy), and two quadrant four (Lehigh, Radford) teams on the road.
• Sunday's game will be the second game this season that will qualify as a quadrant three game and the first since falling 74-64 to Troy at Coconut Hoops in what might have been the team's best game against a Division I opponent to date. 
• The road does not get any easier with this three-game road trip wrapping up at Florida (December 17, NET 25).  The team will conclude non-conference play at home against former NEC foe Robert Morris (December 20, NET 168), which would currently qualify for a quadrant two game.
• Saint Francis is averaging 63.1 points per game and allowing 91.1 points per game on the road in 2025-26.
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks leads the team with 18.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in seven games away from Loretto.
• Wicks has reached double figures in all seven games with three 20-point games and at least 14 points in all seven affairs. Graduate student Zion Russell has reached 10+ points four times and posted a road-high 15 points twice. Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis, sophomore Victor Payne, and freshman Paris Papadatos also have one double-figure point game on the road. 

ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 7-4 on this date, thanks to a 6-1 home record, but is 1-3 on the road and will be away from Loretto for the third time in the last five years.
• Saint Francis defeated Hartford 81-66 on the road in the Jack Phelan Classic on this date in 2021. Ronell Giles, Jr. paced the Red Flash with 17 points, while Josh Cohen (15 points), Maxwell Land (15 points), and Ramiir Dixon-Conover (13 points) also found double figures for the only time the Frankies won a tilt on the road on this date. The game was named the Jack Phelan Classic in honor of Jack Phelan, who played and graduated from Saint Francis from 1973-77 and served as the head coach at Hartford for over a decade. Phelan was inducted into the Saint Francis Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019 and into the Hartford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. He died in July 2020.
FUN FACT...
• Saint Francis played on this date four times from 1964-69, winning all four contests at home. The Red Flash also won on this date at home in 1974 and 2002, with the only loss on this date at home coming to East Carolina in 1972.