| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Chris Moncrief |
6-6 |
190 |
Jr. |
5.5 |
2.3 |
51.8 |
Scored a career-high 25 points at Le Moyne |
| G |
4 |
Juan Cranford, Jr. |
6-3 |
205 |
Fr. |
9.4 |
4.0 |
46.4 |
Registered 12 points at Le Moyne |
| G |
5 |
Daemar Kelly |
6-5 |
195 |
So. |
7.9 |
2.9 |
42.8 |
Recorded 14 points three times |
| G |
11 |
Riley Parker |
6-2 |
195 |
Jr. |
12.8 |
3.5 |
47.5 |
One assist away from 100 in 2024-25 |
| F |
31 |
Valentino Pinedo |
6-8 |
230 |
Jr. |
10.3 |
6.5 |
58.8 |
10+ points in seven of last nine |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
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. |
3.9 |
3.0 |
59.4 |
Only player with points-rebounds double-double at home |
| G |
7 |
Jeremy Clayville |
6-0 |
160 |
Fr. |
8.3 |
1.6 |
41.4 |
17 points in first meeting with FDU |
| G |
14 |
Bobby Rosenberger III |
6-5 |
205 |
So. |
9.6 |
4.1 |
40.8 |
Career-high three steals at Le Moyne |
| G |
15 |
Victor Payne |
6-4 |
190 |
Fr. |
2.0 |
1.5 |
40.0 |
Had seven points at Stonehill on Feb 13 |
| F |
21 |
Gestin Liberis |
6-9 |
225 |
Jr. |
--- |
--- |
--- |
Averaged 11.0 ppg and 7.7 rpg in last four games played |
| G |
23 |
Wisler Sanon II |
6-4 |
190 |
Jr. |
1.6 |
1.0 |
45.5 |
Season-high three rebounds at Le Moyne |
| F |
32 |
Aidan Harris |
6-7 |
205 |
So. |
1.8 |
2.0 |
52.9 |
Season high seven points vs. Lehigh |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. FDU (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saturday's game between Saint Francis and FDU marks the 106th meeting in the all-time series, dating back to the 1954-55 season. Despite the Red Flash taking the meeting in Hackensack earlier this year 75-71, the Knights hold a 53-52 edge in the series. With a win on Saturday, Saint Francis would sweep the regular season meeting against FDU for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
• February 22, 1980, was the "Miracle on Ice" game where the United States defeated Russia, and Al Michael's had the famous line "Do you believe in miracles." The 1954-55 Red Flash basketball seasons did not have epic wins like the ice hockey game in the Olympics 25 years ago unless you think the upset against Duquesne can be in the same vein. However, that season 70 years was the first time Saint Francis and FDU played when the Frankies traveled to New Jersey to play the Knights, which took place 70 years to the day of the first meeting this season between the two teams. In case you are curious, the Knights came to Loretto the first time the following season (1955-56), with Saint Francis taking that meeting 91-50 on January 7, 1956.
• This will be the first time freshman
Jeremy Clayville will face his mother's alma mater in his home gym. Clayville's mother, Sue Steele, played for the Knights' women's basketball team from 1988-92 and helped the Knights to its only two Northeast Conference titles in 1990 and 1992. Clayville posted a road and NEC high of 17 points in the January 12 meeting at the Bogota Savings Bank Center, where Clayville attended camp and played many high school games in the building.
• It has been 16 days since the Red Flash played a home game when head coach
Rob Krimmel became the first basketball head coach in school history to win 100 games at DeGol Arena after its 86-78 win against Le Moyne on February 6. Since then, the Frankies have played four games in four states and two time zones.
• This is the 10th time Saint Francis embarked on a four-game homestand, but this is the first time the team has returned with at least two wins in the four games thanks to an 81-69 win at Chicago State on February 8 and its 81-76 overtime win at Le Moyne on Thursday.
• Saint Francis is 6-3 in the first home game following a four-game homestand. The last two times, the Red Flash rallied from double-figure deficits to earn the win on an NEC TV game. The Frankies rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat CCSU 68-67 on January 21, 2022, on ESPN+ and then came back from 17 points down against Sacred Heart for a 78-76 overtime win on February 9, 2023. Hopefully, the magic was not because of an NEC broadcast but because Saturday's game is on NEC Front Row.
• Saint Francis will wrap up the regular season at home with the first-ever trip for Chicago State to Loretto on March 1. The Red Flash will honor team manager
Carmen Lefoer, and senior walk-on
Brendan Scanlon will be honored before the start of the game against the Cougars.
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Finish the month of February with a 4-2 record
• Sweep the season series with FDU for the first time since 2017-18
• Win the first game back after a four-game road trip for the seventh time
• Improve to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in NEC play at home
• Keep the hope alive to finish league play with a .500 record (would need to win the last two games)
• Win its first home Saturday tilt
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
• FDU comes into the contest 11-17 overall and 7-6 in Northeast Conference play after falling 65-60 at Mercyhurst on Thursday. The Knights are 4-13 away from Hackensack but 4-3 in league games.
• Terrence Brown and Dylan Jones paced the Knights with 15 points apiece, while Jo'el Emanuel added 10 points.
• Brown leads the team with 20.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He also leads the team in assists (85) and steals (55). Emanuel is also averaging double figures at 10.9 points per game. Dylan Jones has a team-best 74 baskets from behind the arc and Bismark Nsiah leads the squad in blocks.
LAST TIME WE MET
• Freshmen Jeremy Clayville and Juan Cranford, Jr. combined for 20 points in a decisive 25-14 run in the second half. Saint Francis withstood a furious comeback attempt by FDU to earn a 75-71 win on January 12 in the Garden State.
• Cranford registered his first nine points, including the go-ahead basket, while Clayville recorded 11 points in the spurt.
• Clayville finished with 13 points and four assists in the same place that his mother, Sue Steele, won two NEC Championships for the Knights women's basketball team in 1990 and 1992.
• Cranford ended with 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists, while junior Riley Parker paced the Red Flash with 18 points.
• Jo'el Emmanuel paced FDU with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Terrence Brown and Dylan Jones both finished with 15 points.
LAST TIME OUT
• Sophomore
Daemar Kelly was clutch at the free throw line, making two free throws to send the game to overtime, and then gave Saint Francis the lead for good on two charity tosses with 38 seconds left to lift the Red Flash past Le Moyne 81-76 on Thursday.
• Junior
Chris Moncrief fueled Saint Francis with a career-high 25 points thanks to 9-for-11 shooting, 4 of 4 from behind the arc, and 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
• Junior
Riley Parker registered 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while Kelly (14 points) and freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. (12 points) also found double figures for the Frankies.
TRENDING UP
• Junior
Chris Moncrief became the sixth player this season ton register
a 20 point game. The 25 points he scored are second to only junior
Riley Parker's 29 points against LIU on January 23. Moncrief has posted his two best games in league play in overtime contests. The junior had 13 points at Wagner on January 20 and then had his 20-point game against Le Moyne one month later. Since joining the starting lineup, Moncrief has recorded double figures in three of the five games. He is averaging 11.4 points per game since rejoining the starting lineup and is shooting 61.1 percent from the floor in that stretch (22-for-36). He registered six rebounds for the second time this season at Le Moyne and dished out a career-best six assists in the meeting with the Dolphins in Loretto on February 6.
• Parker must have the medicine or the remedy for Le Moyne after he averaged 18.5 points per game in the two tilts against Le Moyne. It might be too early to call him a doctor, like Julius Irving. According to Wikipedia, Dr. J received the nickname "Doctor" or "Dr. J" from a high school friend named Leon Saunders. He explains: "I started calling [Saunders] 'the professor,' and he started calling me 'the doctor.' So it was just between us...we were buddies, we had our nicknames, and we would roll with the nicknames. ... And that's where it came from." Dr. P has registered precisely 19 points three times this season to go with four 20-point games. Parker registered back-to-back 20-point games against Georgetown (20 points) on November 23 and against Lehigh (23 points) three days later, the closest he has registered 19 or more points twice in a weekend. He also had 19 points against Wagner on January 20 and 29 points against LIU four days later. The junior added a career-high four steals against Le Moyne on February 20, while he has at least five rebounds eight times and 17 times he has dished out at least three assists, and nine times he has handed out four or more helpers. N
OTE: Happy birthday, Dr. J, who turns 75 on February 22.
• Sophomore
Daemar Kelly has tied his career-high with 14 points three times in his last six games. The sophomore has posted double figures in six straight and seven of the last eight games. He is averaging 13.0 points per game in the current streak. Kelly, who came up big for the Red Flash at the foul line, is shooting 19-for-25 from the free throw line in conference play after only attempting 11 charity tosses in non-conference play.
• Freshman
Juan Cranford, Jr. registered double figures for the first time since he tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double against Chicago State on February 8. Cranford went 4-for-4 in both meetings against Le Moyne and is 20-for-23 from the charity stripe in NEC play, including making four free throws three times in that stretch. He made a career-high six freebies against Lehigh on November 26.
• Saint Francis played an overtime game for the second time this season, and both came on the road. It was the first time the Red Flash won an OT game on the road since defeating Bryant 86-82 on December 31, 2017. It was also the first time the squad won an overtime game since rallying from 17 points down against Sacred Heart on ESPNU for a 78-76 win at DeGol Arena on February 9, 2023. It is the eighth time under head coach
Rob Krimmel the team has played multiple overtime games in a single season.
• The only time in Saint Francis history the team played consecutive overtime games was when the Red Flash played Dayton on March 17, 1955, and Cincinnati on March 19, 1955, in the NIT in Maurice Strokes' final two games in a Frankie's uniform. The closest the team has come to playing back-to-back overtime games since was twice in the final four games of the 2007-08 season.
RED FLASH STATE OF THE NEC
• In the movie "50 First Dates," Drew Barrymore's character starts each day with a new slate or a fresh memory, and Adam Sandler tries to make her fall in love with her every day. With the final week of the regular season upon us, the results of Thursday have almost given the Red Flash a fresh perspective and hope for its seeding for the upcoming tournament, almost like Barrymore's character in the movie. NOTE: Happy birthday, Drew Barrymore, who was born on February 22, 1974.
• CCSU (11-2) and LIU (9-4) are out of reach for the Red Flash to catch in the standings. FDU (7-6) and Stonehill (6-7), on the other hand, are within reach.
• If the Red Flash wins its last two games (FDU and Chicago State), the team would finish 8-8. It would also then hold the tiebreaker with the Knights, who finish at Stonehill (February 27) and LIU (March 1). Stonehill finishes at CCSU (February 22), at FDU (February 27), and at home against Le Moyne (March 1). Saint Francis does not hold the tiebreaker with Stonehill since the Skyhawks swept the season series.
• A Saint Francis loss would dampen its chances to be a Top-4 seed unless Stonehill loses its last three games.
• Looking above are FDU and Stonehill, but not far below are Wagner (5-8), Le Moyne (4-9), and Chicago State (4-9). Wagner would be the team to watch since it holds the tiebreaker with the Red Flash but also finishes its season at Chicago State (February 22), at LIU (February 27), and at home against CCSU (March 1). Le Moyne finishes with LIU (February 22) at CCSU (February 27) and at Stonehill (March 1). Chicago State ends with Wagner (February 22), at Mercyhurst (February 27), and at Saint Francis (March 1).
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 16-5 on this date, holding a 7-1 record at home and 9-3 in Northeast Conference play.
• This will be the fourth time the Red Flash will face FDU on this date and hold a 3-0 record: W, 100-74 at FDU, 1969; W, 68-66, home, 2003; W, 90-82, at FDU, 2018
• Keith Braxton posted 27 points, Andre Wofford had 21 points, and Jamal King registered 19 points in the 2018 clash with the Knights.
• Darshan Luckey tallied a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Erick Willis (15 points) and Jason Osborne (14 points) also had double figures in the 2003 win against FDU
• The win in 1969 was the final win under head coach John Clarke. It was the penultimate game that season, but the Frankies lost 72-63 at Duquesne in Clarke's final stand as head coach.
FUN FACTS
• During the 1954-55 season, the Red Flash defeated Baldwin-Wallace on this date 111-92 in the final regular season road game of the year. It was the fifth straight win as part of a seven-game winning streak to end the regular season.
• Saint Francis won seven straight on this date from 1953-69 and posted four-game winning streaks on this date from 1985-92 and 2003-18. The latest four-game streak ended last season with a loss at Merrimack.
