Mercyhurst University (11-14, 7-6 NEC) at Saint Francis (5-19, 4-8 NEC)
Date | Time	Saturday, February 14, 2026 | 2 p.m.
Location	Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arenna
Television	NEC Front Row (Pat Farabaugh (pxp), Tom Fox (analyst)
Live Stats	Sidearm
Printable Notes	Saint Francis | Mercyhurst
Stats	Saint Francis | Mercyhurst | 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.	9.4	2.5	49.0	Scored season-high 22 points at Mercyhurst
G	F	Skylar Wicks	6-6	190	R-Sr.	17.5	7.2	36.7	Scored 10+ points in eight straight games
G	15	Victor Payne	6-4	190	So.	6.8	3.5	43.2	Scored 14 points in first meeting with Lakers
F	21	Gestin Liberis	6-9	225	R-Jr.	6.2	4.7	53.3	10+ points in last two games
G	55	Ahmad Harrison	6-1	190	Sr.	9.3	2.2	38.6	10+ points in three straight tilts
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.	1.9	0.8	27.6	Saw minutes at Chicago State
G	2	Zion Russell	6-2	185	R-Sr.	12.5	4.1	41.2	Leads NEC in steals in league play
G	3	Brandon Russell	6-5	185	Fr.	2.4	1.2	24.4	Had three assists at Chicago State
G/F	4	Ralph Martino, Jr.	6-6	180	So.	6.7	2.4	55.4	Has not played in last six tilts
G	7	Paris Papadatos	6-4	185	Fr.	4.4	1.1	38.0	Buzzer beater vs FDU was No. 9 on #SCTop10
F	20	Cam Tweedy	6-6	240	R-Sr.	3.9	2.6	55.3	11 points, 11 rebounds at Chicago State

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

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Saturday's game between Saint Francis and Mercyhurst marks the eighth meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1982-83 season.  The Red Flash won the first five meetings in the series, including a 73-59 win in Loretto on January 10, 2025. The Lakers have won the last two games in the matchup, but
both were in Erie. Saint Francis holds a 4-0 edge in games played against Mercyhurst at DeGol Arena.
• Prior to the game, Saint Francis will retire the jerseys of Joe Anderson (No. 44) and Mike Iuzzolino (No. 42), who helped the Red Flash to the 1991 NEC Championship title 35 years ago. In the NCAA Tournament game against Arizona, Anderson became the all-time leading scorer, and Iuzzolino set a new single-season program record. Both of those feats were previously held by Naismith Hall of Famer Maurice Stokes.
• There are several players who wore No. 42 before Iuzzolino, and one of them was Rick Hockenos, who played two years at Saint Francis from 1972-74. Hockenos transferred to Saint Francis from Niagara Community College, where he grew up, and scored 561 points in his two seasons in Loretto. Hockenos, who was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 10th round of the 1974 NBA draft, returned to the Altoona area after a professional career overseas. Hockenos, along with Iuzzolino, played in the Mansion Park Summer League Championship Game in August of 1986 when The Hill and Mister Donut played each other, which would have been the summer before Iuzzolino's senior year at Altoona High School. Iuzzolino went to Penn State for one season, then came to Saint Francis and wore the same number as the player he had played with in high school at Mansion Park.
• Senior Chris Moncrief will be the answer to a trivia question one day. Who was the last player to wear No. 42? Moncrief wore No. 11 his first season and switched to No. 0 before the start of last season, but he wore No. 42 for about 23 minutes and 43 seconds when his jersey was ripped off by a CCSU player. in the championship game John Taylor (2011-12), Stephon Mosley (2012-13), Mark Flagg (2017-22), and Daric Danchanko (2022-23) have worn the No. 42 since Iuzzolino left in 1991.
• No one has worn No. 44 since Anderson graduated in 1991, but he is not the first Saint Francis Hall of Famer to don the No. 44. Nick Leasure also wore the 44 from 1975-79 and registered 1,360 points in his career.
• Back to the current iteration of the Red Flash. Saint Francis returns from a four-game road trip that spanned eight days and 1,910 miles. The Red Flash also endured a four-game road trip in 1988-89, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2024-25. In the first game back at DeGol Arena the Frankies are 8-3 after returning home from a four-game homestand, and have won the last six times after returning from a four tilts away from the Lo'.
• Someone is scheduled to be in the building on Saturday, who was the head coach the first time the Red Flash had a four-game road trip in league play. Jim Baron's 1988-89 team returned from a five-game road trip and lost to Loyola in its first game back. All was not lost because Saint Francis won three of its last five regular-season games and advanced to the NEC Semifinals for the first time in program history. Anderson was a sophomore on that team, and Iuzzolino was on the team but had to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer regulations.
• Head coach Luke McConnell has been a part of three four-game road trips as an assistant, and this will be the first one as a head coach. Side note: Luke's father, Tom,, was the head coach for three four-game NEC road trips.
• The Red Flash faithful could be in store for an exciting game if the game on Saturday can live up to the previous three.
• Saint Francis was down 12 points and rallied for a 68-67 win against CCSU on January 21, 2021, winning the game on a defensive stand at the end. In front of an ESPNU audience, the Red Flash rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Sacred Heart 78-76 in overtime on February 9, 2023. Last year, the Red Flash defeated FDU 85-80 in overtime on February 22, 2025, as part of a three-game winning streak to end the regular season (all in overtime) and a six-game run that led to the 2025 NEC Tournament title.

AN SFU WIN WOULD...
• Be the fifth win against Mercyhurst at DeGol Arena
• Start the final three-game homestand with a win
• End a five-game losing streak
• Be the first Division I win against a Keystone team this season
• Be the first win in the month of February
• Be the first home win on this date since a 68-53 win against Robert Morris in 1996
• Celebrate the jersey retirement of Joe Anderson and Mike Iuzzolino with a win in honor the the 1991 NEC Tournament title team
• Be the 1,194th win in NCAA team history

ABOUT THE LAKERS
• Mercyhurst comes into the contest 12-14 overall and 7-6 in NEC play after falling 58-57 to Le Moyne on Thursday. The Dolphins took the lead for good with 1:41 left in the game. The Lakers had two shots the rest of the way, but could not take the lead back from Le Moyne. Mercyhurst is 9-2 in Erie, but 3-12 on the road this season, and has lost its last three away from Owen McCormick Court.
• Bernie Blunt III paced Mercyhurst with 14 points against the Dolphins. Jake Lemelman (12 points) and Mykolas Ivanauskas (11 points) also registered double figures.
• Blunt leads the team with 16.6 points per game, while Lemelman, who leads the Lakers in assists (76) and steals (34), is also averaging double figures at 13.2 points per game. Qadir Martin powers the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and blocked shots (63).
• The Lakers assistant coach Joe Causgrove spent three seasons as the Director of Basketball Operations at Saint Francis from 2022 to 2024 under former head coach Rob Krimmel. Causgrove joined the Mercyhurst coaching staff when it switched to Division I, and the Frankies won their second NEC Tournament title last season.

LAST TIME WE MET
• Mercyhurst outlasted Saint Francis 98-89 in overtime of an NEC men's basketball game on February 5.
• Chris Moncrief paced the Red Flash with 22 points. Skylar Wicks (19 points), Zion Russell (16 points), and Victor Payne (14 points) also had double figures.
• Bernie Blunt III powered the Lakers with 26 points. Jake Lemelman (21 points), Qadir Martin (20 points), and Dedshaun Jackson, Jr. (10 points) also reached double figures. 
• Trailing 74-70 with 3:50 left in regulation, Saint Francis closed regular time by scoring nine of the final 14 points. Cam Tweedy tied the game with 20 seconds left to send the game to overtime. 

LAST TIME OUT
• Saint Francis falls 66-59 at FDU to end a four-game road trip on February 12. 
• Chris Moncrief paced four Red Flash players in double figures with 14 points, while Gestin Liberis (13 points), Skylar Wicks (11 points), and Ahmad Harrison (10 points) also reached double figures.


TRENDING UP
• Senior Chris Moncrief's best performance in the state of Pennsylvania happened in Erie, Pa., after his 22 points at Mercyhurst on February 5. The best game of his career was a 25-point game at Le Moyne on February 22, 2025. The game against Le Moyne was the catalyst for the end-of-year run. After the Red Flash went 2-2 in the first four games he has reached double figures, the team then rolled off five straight wins last year when he scored double figures and started this year 4-0 when he reached the mark, but has lost the last two times he has scored double figures, the 22-point game against the Lakers and 14 points against FDU on February 12. 
• Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis has posted back-to-back 10+ point games for the first time since he had a then-career-high 14 points at Merrimack on February 22, 2024, and 12 points at Stonehill two days later. He is looking to register three straight games in double figures for the first time in his career. Liberis is a 78.0 percent (39-for-50) free-throw shooter in NEC play after shooting 56.7 percent (17-for-30) in non-conference play. He is the best free-throw shooter on the team in NEC play. Liberis hit 14 free throws in a row starting with the second half against Le Moyne and running through the second half of the FDU contest. He went 6-for-6 against Chicago State on February 9 and started the game against FDU 6-for-6. Not bad for someone who missed his first six freebies of the season. 
•  Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks has scored double digits in the last eight games he has played. He is averaging 16.8 points per game in his last eight games. The redshirt senior started his Saint Francis career with 11 straight games with at least 10 points, the longest stretch of his career. He averaged 19.1 points per game in his first 11 games in a Red Flash uniform. Wicks finished the game in Hackensack with 11 points. The last time he had 11 points was against Stonehill, and he came with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Chicago State. 
•  Senior Ahmad Harrison is riding a three-game 10+ point streak, which is the longest of his Saint Francis career after scoring double figures in consecutive games three times this season. After starting the game against the Knights 0-for-7, he connected on five of his last nine attempts to finish with 10 points. He is averaging 13.0 points per game in his three-game run.  
•  It's interesting how statistics work out and repeat themselves. Redshirt senior Zion Russell has had two five-game 10+ point streaks snapped, and both times the game that ended the run, he finished with nine points. After averaging 13.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game in this first five-gamer, he averaged 16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in the latest streak. The first time it ended with nine points against Stonehill on January 19, and then he had nine points against FDU on February 12 to end the run. He restarted his streak after the game against the Skyhawks with his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Chicago State on January 23.

LEAGUE LEADERS
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks ranks second in scoring (17.5 ppg), third in defensive rebounds (5.62 rpg), fourth in rebounding (7.2 rpg), fourth in 3-pointers made (2.33 pg), fifth in minutes played (33.10 mpg), sixth in steals (1.57 spg), and ninth in free throw percentage (71.4). The redshirt senior is second in 3-pointers made (2.40 pg) in NEC games.
• Wicks was 72nd in defensive rebounds in NCAA Division I prior to play on Thursday.
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell ranks fifth in steals (1.60 spg), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3), 10th in assists (2.80 apg), and 14th in scoring (12.5 ppg). Russell leads in steals (2.2 spg) in league games.
• Senior Ahmad Harrison is eighth in steals (1.43 spg). Harrison is second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.30) in league games. 
• Saint Francis ranks second in 3-pointers made (8.1 pg), third in steals (7.72 spg), third in turnover margin (+0.52), fourth in assist to turnover ratio (1.07), fifth in scoring offense (71.1 ppg), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (33.7), fifth in assists (13.76 apg) and fifth in offensive rebounds (10.6 rpg). In NEC games, the Red Flash leads the league in scoring (73.9 ppg), and 3-pointers made (8.80 pg), and is second in steals (7.58 spg).


IN THE LO'
• Saint Francis is 5-5 at DeGol Arena, including 3-3 in NEC play at home in 2025-26.
• The Red Flash are averaging 76.7 points per game, and are allowing 72.0 points per game. The Red Flash were coming off back-to-back wins against Stonehill (W, 63-61, January 17) and Chicago State (W, 81-60, January 23) before falling to New Haven 81-69 in its last game in the Lo'.
• Saint Francis has four players averaging double figures at home: Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks (15.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg), redshirt senior Zion Russell (13.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg), senior Ahmad Harrison (10.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg), and senior Chris Moncrief (10.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg). 
• Wicks has scored double figures in seven of the eight games he has played at home, with two 20-point games and two double-doubles. He has posted double figures in his last five home games and is averaging 16.2 points per game in that span, including scoring 20 points twice. His 24 points against FDU on January 4 are the most points he has scored at home. 
•  Russell has reached double figures in seven of the nine games at DeGol Arena. He notched a career-high 23 points against Mount St. Mary's on November 11 in his Loretto debut. The redshirt senior posted 15 points against New Haven in his last home game for his best home performance.
• Harrison has six 10+ point games in the Lo' with three games of at least 16 points in his last four tilts in the 814. Moncrief has three double-figure point performances in his last five games at home, with a DeGol Arena career-high 18 points against Chicago State. 
•  Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis (two games), sophomore Ralph Martino, Jr. (two games), junior Trey Weiand (one game), and freshman Paris Papadatos (one game) have also posted a 10-point game at home this season.
• With the Red Flash set to host its final three games over the next eight days, the team hopes to have deja vu all over again after Saint Francis won its final three games of the regular season and five games overall to finish 2024-25 with a 10-4 record at DeGol Arena. 

ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 13-7 overall, 8-5 at home, and 5-5 in NEC play on this date. The Red Flash has not won on this date at home since a 68-53 win against Robert Morris in 1996 and has lost the last three at DeGol Arena on Valentine's Day. On the other hand, the Red Flash has won its last three on the road on this date. It will be the fifth time the Frankies will face a team from the Keystone State on this date, with a 4-0 mark against the state.
• Maurice Stokes had 28 points in the only time Saint Francis has traveled to play the Bullets in a 107-71 on this date in 1955. The 107 points marked the first of four-straight games the Red Flash reached 100 points to end the regular season. 
FUN FACTS...
• With this being the day that we are honoring both Joe Anderson and Mike Iuzzolino, the duo never played on Valentine's Day. Three times the Red Flash played on Valentine's Day Eve, and once the squad played on the day after Valentine's Day. • Saint Francis defeated Loyola 98-75 on February 13, 1989, and Robert Morris 85-80 on February 13, 1991, but lost to Robert Morris 66-63 on February 13, 1988, and to FDU 74-58 on February 15, 1990.
• Anderson averaged 14.5 points in the four games surrounding Valentine's Day, with his best performance being 21 points against FDU. Thirty-five years ago, during the 1991 NEC Championship season, Iuzzolino scored a career-high 41 points against Robert Morris on February 13, 1991. It was the first time in 15 years (Lamont Harris) and a feat that would not be accomplished again for 31 years (Josh Cohen). Iuzzolino also had 19 points against FDU to average 30.0 points per game in games surrounding February 14.