Â
| Saint Francis Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Chris Moncrief |
6-6 |
190 |
Sr. |
6.3 |
1.5 |
42.9 |
Secured the steal to clinch last year's NEC Championship Game against CCSU |
| GÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
F |
Skylar Wicks |
6-6 |
190 |
R-Sr. |
18.0 |
7.1.5 |
39.9 |
Averaging 20.0 ppg on the weekend |
| G |
15 |
Victor Payne |
6-4 |
190 |
So. |
6.1 |
3.4 |
42.2 |
Had 10 points against LIU |
| FÂ Â Â Â |
21 |
Gestin Liberis |
6-9 |
225 |
R-Jr. |
4.4 |
4.4 |
49.0 |
Great defensive stand to power win at Wagner |
| G |
55 Â Â Â |
Ahmad Harrison |
6-1 |
190 |
Sr. |
6.9 |
2.4 |
55.7 |
Averaging 11.2 ppg in last five games |
| Top Players Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
Note |
| GÂ |
1 |
KJ Swain, Jr. |
6-1 |
165 |
R-Sr. |
2.1 |
0.8 |
28.6 |
Career-high seven assists in last home game played |
| G |
2 |
Zion Russell |
6-2 |
185 |
R-Sr. |
11.5 |
4.1 |
36.7 |
Dished out 17 assists in last three games played |
| G |
3 |
Brandon Russell |
6-5 |
185 |
Fr. |
2.8 |
1.5 |
25.5 |
Had five points against FDU |
| G/F |
4 |
Ralph Martino, Jr. |
6-6 Â Â |
180 |
So. |
6.9 |
2.4 |
55.7 |
Averaging 9.3 ppg in NEC play |
| G |
7 |
Paris Papadatos |
6-4 |
185 |
Fr. |
6.6 |
1.5 |
39.7 |
Buzzer beater vs FDU was No. 9 on #SCTop10 |
| F |
20 Â Â |
Cam Tweedy |
6-6 |
240 |
R-Sr. |
4.6 |
2.9 |
54.8 |
Has four rebounds in six games this season |
SELECT GAME NOTES VS. CCSU (FULL GAME NOTES PDF)Â
FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• The schedule revisit of the 2025 NEC Tournament reaches its conclusion on Saturday with a rematch of the NEC Championship game between Saint Francis and CCSU, but this time the two teams met in Loretto.
• The repeat of last year's title run in the 2025-26 regular season started with a 71-69 win at Wagner on January 8 after the two teams squared off in Loretto in the NEC Quarterfinals with the Frankies taking a 53-50 win on March 5, 2025. LIU was the opponent in the NEC Semifinals with Saint Francis taking a 71-69 victory on March 8, 2025, but the rematch resulted in a Sharks' 69-63 win on January 10 in Brooklyn.
• The Red Flash defeated the Blue Devils 46-43 in the NEC Championship Game on March 11, 2025, and the two teams will meet for the first time in Loretto since that date.
• The all-time series between Saint Francis is tied at 29, but the Red Flash holds a 19-11 advantage at DeGol Arena.
• The Blue Devils have won the last five games in the regular season. Before the NEC Championship win, the last Saint Francis victory was an 83-69 win on March 1, 2023, in the NEC Quarterfinals, while the last regular-season win against the New Britain program was an 80-72 win in the 2023 NEC opener on December 29, 2022, in Loretto.
• Going back to that NEC Tournament run for a second, the Red Flash won each of the contests in the league postseason by three points each. Both of the Red Flash's wins against Division I opponents in 2025-25 have been by three points or less. Along with the win over the Seahawks last week, Saint Francis defeated FDU 85-82 on January 4.
• Old NEC fans might remember the Thursday-Saturday-Monday format, which was abandoned with the adoption of the mirror schedule during the COVID season and never returned.
• Dating back to the 2003-04 season (because that was the first year
Dave Musil was a part of the NEC), the league played women's games on Thursday, had a doubleheader on Saturday, and a men's game on Monday. Halfway through that season, the two sports switched: the men played an opponent on Thursday, a doubleheader on Saturday, and the women played on Monday, against the same opponent the men played on Thursday (for the majority of the time). After that season, the league consistently had men on Thursday-Saturday and women on Saturday-Monday until the 2020-21 season. The Red Flash women play at Stonehill on Thursday and at CCSU on Saturday.
• This is the second time the Red Flash has experienced old-fashioned NEC events after it hosted a doubleheader against FDU on January 4.
• Saint Francis will host Stonehill at noon on Monday for an MLK Day game. It will be the 13th time the Red Flash has played on MLK Day at home, and only the fourth since 2000 (2001, 2020, 2024).
AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Improve NEC record to 3-2
• Be the team's third win in last four games
• Be the first regular season win against CCSU since December 31, 2024
• Be the second consecutive win against the Blue Devils after winning the NEC Championship 46-43 on March 11, 2025
• Be the second win in a row at DeGol Arena
• Be the first win at home on this date in 40 years
• Start a three-game homestand with a victory
• Improve to 4-3 at home this season
ABOUT THE BLUE DEVILS
• CCSU comes into the contest 9-6 overall and 3-1 in NEC play after defeating Le Moyne 69-59 on January 10. The Blue Devils have won three consecutive games after falling 84-78 to LIU in a matchup of the preseason top two teams on January 2.
• CCSU registered wins against Boston College (W, 60-59, November 11) and Rutgers (W, 67-54, November 21) in non-conference play.
• Darin Smith, Jr. paced the Blue Devils against the Dolphins with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Max Frazier (14 points), Jay Rogers (12 points), and Melo Sanchez (11 points) also posted double figures in the win.
• Smith paces the NEC in scoring with 20.3 points per game, while Rogers and Frazier are both averaging 11.7 points per game. Rogers leads the NEC and ranks fourth in the nation with 7.3 assists per game, while Frazier leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME WE MET
• Daemar Kelly gave Saint Francis the lead for good with nine seconds left, and Chris Moncrief registered a steal and made a free throw to help secure a 46-43 win against CCSU in the NEC Championship Game on March 11, 2025. It was the second Red Flash NEC Tournament title and first since 1991.
• Juan Cranford, Jr. was the only Saint Francis player in double figures with 14 points.Â
• Devin Haid paced the Blue Devils with 14 points, while Abdul Momoh had 11 rebounds.
• Moncrief (five points, six rebounds) is the only player from Saint Francis, and Darin Smith, Jr. (six points, four rebounds) and Max Frazier (five rebounds) are the only players on the rosters from 2025-26 that played in the title bout in March.Â
LAST TIME OUT
• A furious second-half attempt by Saint Francis was halted in the final minute against LIU. The Sharks defeated the Red Flash 67-63 on January 10.
• Skylar Wicks paced Saint Francis with 21 points. Ralph Martino, Jr. notched a career-high 15 points, and Victor Payne chipped in 10 points.Â
• After Wicks cut the margin to 64-63 with a run of 15-6, Martino came up with a defensive rebound to give the Red Flash a chance to take the lead.Â
• A missed 3-pointer by Saint Francis, the Sharks made 1 of 2 at the line. The Red Flash then turned the ball over by stepping on the sideline, trying to get the ball up the court, and the Sharks sealed the game at the free-throw line.
TRENDING UP
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks is averaging 7.5 points per game in the first game of an NEC weekend and is shooting 16.7 percent from the floor (5-for-30) and 7.7 percent from behind the arc (1-for-13) in those Thursday games. On the other hand, Wicks is averaging 22.5 points per game in the second game of the weekend, shooting 44.1 percent from the floor (15-for-34) and 44.4 percent from 3-point land (8-for-18) in those two games. These stats will come to a head against CCSU because the first game of the week will be on a Saturday, which is also the day that he has had his most success in conference play since the first two weeks the second game was on a Saturday. If you look at the overall season, Wicks is averaging 20.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in five weekend games and 17.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in games during the week. Wicks is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from behind the arc in five games played on the weekend.Â
• Sophomore Ralph Martino, Jr. has posted back-to-back double- figure performances for the first time in his career after posting 10 points against Wagner on January 8 and a career-high 15 points against LIU two days later. He made 81.8 percent of his shots (9-for-11) and was 66.7 percent from behind the arc in New York. Martino also tied his career high with four assists against the Seahawks. The sophomore is averaging 9.3 points per game since the start of NEC play.Â
• Sophomore Victor Payne added 10 points at LIU to register his first NEC road game in double figures and his second 10+ point game in league play this season after scoring 11 points against Le Moyne on January 2. The sophomore is looking to post back-to-back 10+ point games for the second time this season after he had a career-high 15 points against Troy on November 26 and matched that total against Franciscan on November 29. If he reaches 10 points against CCSU, he would repeat the feat with a road and home contest in his two-game streak.
• Senior Ahmad Harrison has three 10+ point games in his last five games, and is averaging 11.2 points per game in that span. He had 17 points against Wagner for his second-best total in a Red Flash uniform. He has dished out multiple assists seven times this season, including in his last three tilts and four times in the last five.
• Saint Francis is 12-12 with senior Chris Moncrief in the starting lineup, including 2-1 this season in NEC games and 10-2 dating back to last season against an NEC opponent. The Red Flash is 2-0 this season when he reaches double figures (14 points vs FDU and 15 points vs Wagner) and 8-2 overall when he scores double figures.Â
LEAGUE LEADERS
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks ranks second in scoring (18.0 ppg), second in defensive rebounds (5.80), fourth in rebounding (7.1 rpg), fourth in 3-pointers made (2.27 pg), fourth in minutes played (33.07 mpg), eighth in assists (2.73 apg), and eighth in steals (1.40 spg).
• Wicks is 59th in defensive rebounds per game and 73rd in scoring in NCAA Division I.
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell ranks fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38), seventh in assists (3.14 apg), ninth in steals (1.36 spg), 21st in scoring (11.5 ppg).
• Senior Ahmad Harrison ranks sixth in steals (1.41 spg), while sophomore Victor Payne is ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (37.7)
• Saint Francis is fourth in free throw percentage (70.6), fourth in steals (7.82 spg), fifth in assists (13.59 apg), fifth in turnover margin (-0.53), and fifth in 3-pointers made (7.76 pg). In NEC play, the Red Flash lead the league in 3-pointers made (8.75 pg).
IN THE LO'
• Saint Francis is 3-3 at home this season and is averaging 77.3 points per game and allowing 70.0 points per game.
• The Red Flash won its first game against a Division I opponent, thanks to a freshman Paris Papadatos' buzzer-beater 85-82 win against FDU in the team's last home game on January 4.
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks leads the team with 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while redshirt senior Zion Russell is averaging 13.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game at DeGol Arena.
• Wicks matched his season-high with 24 points in his last home game against FDU and also has a double-double on his resume in the Lo'. Russell registered a career-high 23 points at home against Mount St. Mary's on November 11.
• Senior Chris Moncrief notched his first 10+ point game of the season against the Knights with 14 points.
• Sophomore Victor Payne has two double-figure point games, while senior Ahmad Harrison, junior Trey Weiand, sophomore Ralph Martino, Jr., and Papdatos each have one 10+ point game this season.Â
• Saint Francis was 10-4 last season at DeGol Arena and won its last four games in 2024-25. Dating back to that streak, the Red Flash has won five of its last six against NEC teams, including the win against Wagner in the NEC Quarterfinals.
ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 8-10 overall, 3-3 at home, and 5-5 against NEC opponents on this date.
• The last time the Red Flash played on this date, the Frankies overcame an 11-1 deficit to defeat Merrimack 62-46 in 2022. Marlon Hargis paced Saint Francis with 15 points. Maxwell Land narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, and Josh Cohen had 12 points in Massachusetts.
• Sam Sutton registered 21 points to pace the Red Flash past Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg on this date in 1998. Walt DeVan (20 points), Eric Taylor (17 points, 10 rebounds), Emmanuel Adekunle (16 points), and Jamal Ragland (10 points) also found double figures for the Flash.
FUN FACTS...
• Saint Francis has played at home on this date six times, but only once since the turn of the century. The last time the Red Flash played in Loretto was a 71-61 loss against CCSU in 2009, while the last win on this date was a 104-70 decision against LIU in 1986 (40 years ago).
