New Haven University (9-12, 4-4 NEC) at Saint Francis (6-14, 4-3 NEC)
Date | Time	Saturday, January 31, 2026 | 7 p.m.
Location	Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arenna
Television	NEC Front Row (Pat Farabaugh (pxp), Bernie Jubeck (analyst)
Live Stats	Sidearm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | New Haven
Stats	Saint Francis | New Haven | NEC
Social Media	@RedFlashMBB  | #BELIEVE | @RedFlashMBB | Facebook

 

Saint Francis Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	FG%	Note
G	0	Chris Moncrief	6-6	190	Sr.	8.4	2.2	47.1	Scored season-high 18 points in last game
G	F	Skylar Wicks	6-6	190	R-Sr.	17.5	7.3	39.9	Third career double-double against Chicago State
G	15	Victor Payne	6-4	190	So.	6.4	3.3	44.4	Leads league in 3-point percentage in NEC games
F	21	Gestin Liberis	6-9	225	R-Jr.	5.1	4.5	49.2	Nine points against Chicago State
G	55	Ahmad Harrison	6-1	190	Sr.	8.7	2.1	41.2	Career-high eight assists against Chicago State
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.	2.1	0.8	28.6	Career-high seven assists in last home game played
G	2	Zion Russell	6-2	185	R-Sr.	11.6	4.2	38.9	First career double-double against Chicago State
G	3	Brandon Russell	6-5	185	Fr.	2.7	1.4	25.4	Led team in assists against LIU
G/F	4	Ralph Martino, Jr.	6-6	180	So.	6.7	2.4	55.4	Averaging 7.7 ppg in NEC play
G	7	Paris Papadatos	6-4	185	Fr.	5.7	1.3	39.4	Buzzer beater vs FDU was No. 9 on #SCTop10
F	20	Cam Tweedy	6-6	240	R-Sr.	4.0	2.6	52.3	Has four rebounds in six games this season

SELECT GAME NOTES VS. NEW HAVEN (FULL GAME NOTES PDF) 

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saturday's game between Saint Francis and New Haven will be the first meeting in the all-time series, with the Chargers joining the league in 2025-26, after the January 25 meeting was postponed.
• New Haven becomes the 24th different NEC school the Red Flash will face. There have been 25 institutions in the ECAC Metro/NEC, counting the Frankies.
• Saint Francis is 11-12 in the first official meeting against a team under the conference umbrella. NOTE: The team played many opponents before meeting in league play. The Red Flash is 6-4 at home and 5-8 on the road in the inaugural meeting. The Frankies have won the last two games in the first meeting and four of the last five against a new opponent at DeGol Arena after defeating Mount St. Mary's (1989), Sacred Heart (1999), Stonehill (2022), and Mercyhurst (2024). The lone loss was Merrimack (2019). The team went 1-5 in the first year of the ECAC Metro, losing its first meeting.
• New Haven becomes the second current member of the NEC from the state of Connecticut, and the fourth team to play in the league from the Nutmeg State. CCSU is the other current member from Connecticut, while Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart are former members that are now in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Red Flash defeated CCSU in the first meeting in New Britain and Sacred Heart in the first meeting in 1999 in Loretto, while it lost to Quinnipiac in the first meeting in Hamden in 1998.
• This will be the fourth-straight year Saint Francis has played a new NEC member. The Frankies defeated Stonehill (2022) and Mercyhurst (2024) at home, and Chicago State (2024) on the road, while losing their first game to Le Moyne (2023).
• The Saint Francis men's basketball staff will join the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for Coaches Vs. Cancer: Sneakers and Suits Week; wear suits and sneakers for its game at Chicago State and its home game against New Haven on Saturday to help raise awareness of the fight against cancer. This will be the first time this season that the coaches will don suits under first-year head coach Luke McConnell. It will be the first time the Red Flash coaches will wear suits since the NCAA First Four against Alabama State on March 18 for Rob Krimmel's final game as a head coach. Under Krimmel, the Saint Francis coaching staff was one of the few to return to wearing suits every contest, instead of continuing what was called "COVID casual" during the 2021-22 season, which involved a quarter-zip. Of course, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin made national news when he submitted a petition to the NCAA proposing that all men's college basketball head coaches be required to wear suits during all games.
• The Red Flash has won all four home games that preceded team manager Matthew Hall's birthday in his four seasons as team manager for the Red Flash, with its 80-61 win against Chicago State on January 23. Hall, whose birthday is January 25, will be honored  before the game against New Haven for his senior day. Hall has been the team manager for basketball for four years and the softball manager for four years, and will be traveling with the Red Flash softball team to the Battle of the Bay Tournament at Hampton on February 21, which is scheduled for Men's BaskeybaSenior Day against Wagner.

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Improve NEC record to 5-3
• Post three straight victories for the first time since winning four straight last year (last three regular season, NEC Quarterfinals)
• Be the first win against New Haven
• Be the fifth win in the last seven games
• Be the sixth win at home this season
• Be the fourth win at DeGol Arena in the last five tilts
• Earn a win against its 23rd different NEC oppoonent
• Head out on a four-game road trip on a high note

ABOUT THE CHARGERS
• New Haven comes into the contest 9-12 overall and 4-4 in NEC play after falling 70-51 at Mercyhurst on Thursday. 
• Andre Pasha paced the Chargers with 15 points, while Najimi George (11 points) and Kheni Briggs (11 points) also reached double figures against the Lakers.
• Jabri Fitzpatrick paces New Haven with 11.6 points per game. George (11.2 ppg) and Pasha (10.2 ppg) are also averaging double figures this season.


LAST TIME OUT
• Skylar Wicks and Chris Moncrief combined for 38 points to lift Saint Francis past Chicago State 81-60 on January 23.
• Wicks finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds to register third double-double of the season, while Moncrief added a season-high 18 points. Both players were named NEC Prime Performers for their contributions to the win.
• Zion Russell registered his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Victor Payne chipped in 10 points.
• Wicks and Russell marked the first time two Red Flash players had a double-double since Riley Parker (15 points, 10 assists) and Miles Webb (13 points, 12 rebounds) against Penn State Shenango on December 4, 2024. It was also the first time two players had 10 rebounds in the same game since Eli Wilborn (11 rebounds) and Bobby Rosenberger (10 rebounds) against Stonehill on February 22, 2024.
• The Red Flash shot 70 percent in the first half to register over 70 percent in 20 minutes of play for the first time since December 31, 2017, at Bryant in the second half.
• The Red Flash had 23 assists, the most assists against a Division I opponent since dishing out 23 helpers against CCSU on February 7, 2019. The Frankies had 21 assists against Xavier earlier this year.
• This game marked the first time since an 81-69 win at Chicago State on February 8, 2025, that Saint Francis won a game that did not go into overtime or that was decided by three points or less.

TRENDING UP
• The last time redshirt senior Skylar Wicks had a double-double, it was in back-to-back games: 15 points and 13 rebounds against Mount St. Mary's on November 11, and 24 points and 12 rebounds at Lehigh on November 18. Wicks has not had fewer than three rebounds per game and is only missing a 10-rebound performance to be able to say he can count three through 12 in boards. He has registered eight rebounds three times this season, the most among the numbers. After starting out missing double figures in two of his first three games of NEC play, the redshirt senior has posted double figures in points in the last four games and is averaging 16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in that stretch.
• Senior Chris Moncrief's 18 points are the second-most points he has scored in his career, with his 25-point performance at Le Moyne on February 20, 2025, behind his personal best. The senior has registered double figures against NEC teams 11 times in the last two years, with six on the road and five at home. This season, he has three of his four 10+ point performances at DeGol Arena. He is averaging 12.6 points per game in his last six games, and the Red Flash is 4-2 in that stretch.
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell registered his first career double-double against Chicago State after finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. His previous high in boards was eight. He has posted double-figure points in eight of his last 10 games and is averaging 11.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in that span. Russell has two 15-point games, two 14-point games, four games with at least five boards, and six games with at least three helpers in those 10 games.
• Sophomore Victor Payne has posted double figures three times in his last four games and four times in the seven NEC games. He looks to score 10+ points in consecutive games for the third time this season. Payne is averaging 8.3 points per game in NEC play.
• Senior Ahmad Harrison has scored at least eight points in every game he has played since Robert Morris on December 20, with five 10+ point contests, and is averaging 12.1 points per game in those eight tilts. He has also posted a six-assist, seven-assist, and eight-assist performances in that stretch and is averaging 3.9 assists per game since the final game before Christmas. 
• Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis registered nine points and four assists against the Cougars. The four dimes are the second most in his career, to the five he had at TCU on November 6. It was the fourth time this season he has registered at least nine points in a game. 
• Saint Francis comes into the game at 4-3. With a win, the Red Flash would be 5-3 for the ninth time in NEC history (1983-84, 1988-89, 1997-98, 2002-03, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2019-20, 2022-23). It would tie the second-best start in program history, trailing only the 1990-91 team that started 7-1 through eight games. Head coach Luke McConnell was an assistant coach the last four times the Frankies started NEC play at 5-3. Last year, the Red Flash was 3-5 after eight games before finishing the second half of the league slate 5-3, including winning its last three tilts on its way to the 2025 NEC Tournament title. As Art Hunter says, "Its not how you start, but how you finish!"

LEAGUE LEADERS
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks is second in scoring (17.5 ppg), third in defensive rebounds (5.78 rpg), third in minutes played (32.83 mpg), fourth in rebounding (7.3 rpg), fifth in steals (1.65 spg), fifth in 3-pointers made (2.17 pg), 10th in assists (2.61 apg) and 10th in free throw percentage (76.2). 
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell ranks eighth in assists (2.82 apg), 10th in steals (1.29 spg), and 19th in scoring (11.6 ppg).
• Senior Ahmad Harrison ranks fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.1), seventh in steals (1.45 spg).
• Sophomore Victor Payne is sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.8) overall and paces  the league in NEC games (60.9) in the category.
• Saint Francis ranks second in 3-pointers made (8.05 pg), third in assists (14.00 apg), third in turnover margin (+0.30), third in steals (7.70 spg), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.09),  fifth in the NEC in scoring (70.1 ppg), fifth in free throw percentage (70.7), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (33.9), and. The Red Flash leads the NEC in assists (14.86 apg), and 3-pointers made (9.14) and ranks second in scoring offense (73.0 ppg), second in steals (7.43 spg), second in turnover margin (+3.29),  and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42) in league play.

IN THE LO'
• Saint Francis is 5-4 at home this season and is averaging 77.6 points per game and allowing 71.0 points per game.
• Before the 80-61 win against Chicago State on January 23, the previous two wins against Division I teams were by a buzzer beater. Freshman Paris Papadatos' buzzer-beater 85-82 win against FDU on January 4, and senior Ahmad Harrison's buzzer beater against Stonehill for a 63-61 win on January 19.
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks leads the team with 16.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while redshirt senior Zion Russell is averaging 13.3 points per game, and Harrison is now averaging 10.2 points per game at DeGol Arena.
• Wicks has five 10+ point games, a season-high with 24 points against FDU on January 4, and also has two double-doubles on his resume in the Lo'. Russell registered a career-high 23 points at home against Mount St. Mary's on November 11, and a double-double.. The redshirt senior has five 10+ point games at home. Harrison has four double figure games in the Lo', including three in his last four where he is averaging 13.3 points per game in that stretch. 
• Senior Chris Moncrief has three 10+ point games in Red Flash wins including a season-high 18 points against Chicago State.
• Sophomore Victor Payne has four double-figure point games, while redshirt junior Gestin Liberis has a pair of 10+ point games, and junior Trey Weiand, sophomore Ralph Martino, Jr., and Papdatos each have one 10+ point game this season. 
• 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 10-10 overall, 5-2 at home and 4-4 in NEC play. 
• The Red Flash defeated Xavier 77-73 at DeGol Arena on this date in 1994. Deon George paced the Red Flash with 18 points, while Reggie Lewis (16 points), Jason Roberts (15 points), and Rob Wooster (11 points) each reached double figures for Saint Francis. Xavier finished the year 22-8 and advanced to the NIT Quarterfinals. The win was considered the fifth biggest win in Saint Francis men's basketball history, according to an Altoona Mirror 2020 poll. 
FUN FACTS...
• Saint Francis hosted Wake Forest on this date in 1976. It was the second time the Demon Deacons came to the Loretto and the only two times in program history the Red Flash hosted an ACC team. Wake Forest won 75-69.