Saint Francis (6-15, 4-4 NEC) at Mercyhurst University (11-12, 6-4 NEC)
Date | Time	Thursday, February 5, 2026 | 7 p.m.
Location	Erie, Pa. | McCormick Court
Television	ESPN+ (Paul Dottino (pxp), Joe DeSantis (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.	8.2	2.2	45.3	Scored season-high 18 points against Chicago State/span>
G	F	Skylar Wicks	6-6	190	R-Sr.	17.2	7.3	35.7	Ranks 60th in NCAA in defensive rebounds
G	15	Victor Payne	6-4	190	So.	6.4	3.3	44.3	Leads league in 3-point percentage in NEC games
F	21	Gestin Liberis	6-9	225	R-Jr.	5.2	4.6	52.2	Nine points in each of last two tilts
G	55	Ahmad Harrison	6-1	190	Sr.	9.0	2.2	40.3	Led team with 16 points against New Haven
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	Has not played since Florida>
G	2	Zion Russell	6-2	185	R-Sr.	11.8	4.1	39.8	First career double-double against Chicago State
G	3	Brandon Russell	6-5	185	Fr.	2.6	1.3	24.6	Led team in assists against LIU
G/F	4	Ralph Martino, Jr.	6-6	180	So.	6.7	2.4	55.4	Has not played in last two games
G	7	Paris Papadatos	6-4	185	Fr.	5.4	1.2	39.7	Buzzer beater vs FDU was No. 9 on #SCTop10
F	20	Cam Tweedy	6-6	240	R-Sr.	3.9	2.4	53.0	Has four rebounds in six games this season

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

FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH
• Thursday's game between Saint Francis and Mercyhurst marks the seventh meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1982-83 season.
• It will be the third meeting in NEC play after the Lakers joined the league last season. The Red Flash won the first four meetings in the series from 1982-83.
• The two teams split the series last season, with both teams winning on their home floor, and the first for Mercyhurst in Erie.
• 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.
• It is only fitting that Saint Francis and Mercyhurst play in the first game after Groundhog Day since Punxsutawney is the way to get from Loretto to Erie.
• Punxsutawney Phil, in negative three degrees on Monday, saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter.
• Dating back to Maurice Stokes' first season, the Frankies are 27-36 when Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and 6-7 when he does not see his shadow. In addition, the Loretto program is 23-10 at home and 10-32 on the road, but 5-35 in the last 35 games after starting 5-2 on the road.
• Since joining the NEC, Saint Francis is 12-29 in the first game after Punxsutawney Phil predicts the weather, 8-7 at home, and 4-22 on the road.
• Head coach Luke McConnell was 6-6 as an assistant coach in the first game after Punxsutawney Phil Day (3-1 at home, and 3-5 on the road). The Red Flash defeated Le Moyne at home last season and is looking to break a three-game road losing streak.
• In the six seasons, the Frankies won after the groundhog appeared with McConnell on the bench, the Red Flash went 29-17 in February and appeared in four NEC Championship Games, including winning the tournament last season. In the six years the Red Flash lost with McConnell as assistant, the team went 16-26 the rest of the way and won only twice in those postseason games.
• Basing what happens the rest of the season on a win around Groundhog Day is like Punxsutawney Phil predicting the weather, but when the Red Flash wins in the first game after Phil's big day, the Red Flash has made the postseason 11 times and has a 15-9 record, and has not won a postseason game twice. Conversely, after the shadow game, and a loss,, Saint Francis has made the postseason 20 times but is 5-20, losing in the first round 15 times and in one postseason game five times.
• Both times the squad won the NEC Tournament, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. However, in 2019 and 2020, when the Red Flash went to the title bout, he predicted an early spring.
• Due to the Chicago State postponement, the game at Mercyhurst begins a four-game, four-state road trip over the span of eight days. After the tilt at the Lakers, the Red Flash heads to Le Moyne on Saturday, Chicago State on Monday, and FDU on February 12. Saint Francis traveled the most miles in non-conference play in program history, so this 1,910 miles in eight days is not new to the Flash.

AN SFU WIN WOULD
• Improve NEC record to 5-4
• Be the first victory in Erie since 1983
• Be the fifth win in the last nine games
• Be the second road win in the last three tilts
• Start the month of February with a win
• Be the 28th time the Red Flash has won the game right after Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow
• Start a four-game road trip with a victory
• Be the 1,194th win in NCAA team history

ABOUT THE LAKERS
• Mercyhurst comes into the contest 11-12 overall and 6-4 in NEC play after falling 78-74 at Chicago State on Saturday. 
• Mercyhurst is on pace to stop the lake effect from year one to year two in the NEC. Le Moyne won nine NEC games in its first year (2023-24), but then dropped to four wins last season. Stonehill won 10 games in its inaugural season (2022-23) before winning two games in its second season. Even Merrimack saw a five-game drop after winning the NEC regular season in 2019-20 with 14 wins, and then finished the second season 9-9 in league play. The Lakers won nine games last year and have won six of their first 10 games in 2025-26.
• Jake Lemelman paced Mercyhurst with 21 points and seven assists against the Cougars. Qadir Martin added 19 points and eight boards.
• Bernie Blunt III leads the Lakers with 15.7 points per game, while Lemelman is second in scoring (13.2 ppg) and powers the team in assists (73) and steals (30). Martin is third in scoring (10.0 ppg), and leads in both rebounds (6.3 rpg) and blocks (57).

LAST TIME WE MET
• Saint Francis had a game decided in the closing minutes for the second straight time on the hardwood. The Red Flash fell 62-58 on January 30, 2025.
• Daemar Kelly paced Saint Francis with a career-high 14 points. Riley Parker added 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while Valentino Pinedo chipped in 12 points and five rebounds.
• Bernie Blunt III fueled the Lakers with 22 points, while Jeff Planutis (18 points) and Aidan Reichert (16 points) also found double figures. 
• After this game at Mercyhurst, the Red Flash won five of the final seven games of the regular season and then all three games in the NEC Tournament to claim its second NEC Tournament title in program history. 

LAST TIME OUT
• After a week off due to a pair of postponements, Saint Francis falls 81-69 to New Haven on January 31.
• Ahmad Harrison paced the Red Flash with 16 points. Zion Russell added 15 points, and Skylar Wicks chipped in 12 points.

TRENDING UP
• Senior Ahmad Harrison has had three games with 16 points, two contests with eight points, and one with 17 points in his last six tilts. If the current trend continues, he is due to score double figures against Mercyhurst like a club sandwich after two 10+ point games, eight points, two more 10+ point games, an eight-point game, followed by his 16 points against the Chargers in that stretch. He is averaging 13.3 points and 4.1 assists in the last seven games. In addition to his point totals, Harrison has posted six, seven, and eight-assist games in those seven contests, and his rebounding has picked up in his last three games, with five and six rebounds for his two best performances on the boards. It might not be a coincidence his numbers have increased in this time since he joined the starting lineup seven games ago. 
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell has scored 10+ in back-to-back games and in eight of his last 10, and is averaging 10.7 points per game in that span. He has dished out three assists 10 times this season, including seven in his last two contests. Despite coming off the bench in the last four games for the first time this season, he is averaging 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game off the bench.
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks might be due for a 20-point game on Thursday. Most people would be happy if they score 16 points in a game, but when Wicks scores 16 points or less in a game, he posts a 20-point game in the next tilt, and that has happened all six times. He is averaging 22.0 points per game on those occasions. Wicks has registered double figures in points in the last five games, his longest streak since he started his Red Flash career scoring 10+ points in the first 11 games he played. He is averaging 15.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in his last five.
• Head coach Luke McConnell calls senior Chris Moncrief the connector on the team, and when he is connecting on the scoreboard, the Red Flash has success dating back to when he joined the starting lineup against Le Moyne on February 6, 2025, in NEC play. The Red Flash are 4-0 this season when he scores 10+ points a game. In the 15 NEC regular-season games since Moncrief was inserted as a starter, the Frankies are 8-0 when he scores double figures and 1-6 when he is held to single digits. The one win was at Chicago State on February 8, 2025. However, in the three NEC postseason games last year, Moncrief only scored double figures in the NEC Semifinals against LIU. The senior is averaging 15.5 points per game in Red Flash wins and 5.5 points per game in losses. 
• Redshirt junior Gestin Liberis stuffed the stat sheet against New Haven, tying a career-high five assists along with six rebounds and nine points. The redshirt junior had 10 assists in his first 46 games in his first two seasons and has registered a pair of five-assist performances this season, with the other one coming against TCU on November 6. Liberis has come up huge in two Saint Francis wins, but not with eye-popping statistics. In the win at Wagner, Liberis held his ground on defense on the last-second shot that did not fall to preserve a 71-69 win on January 8. Harrison was the hero with his buzzer-beater against Stonehill, but without an offensive rebound and a kickoff to Harrison for 3 a few minutes earlier, Saint Francis would not be in that position for its second buzzer-beater of the season.


LEAGUE LEADERS
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks ranks second in scoring (17.2 ppg), third in defensive rebounds (5.74 rpg), fourth in rebounding (7.3 rpg), fifth in steals (1.53 spg), fifth in 3-pointers made (2.16 pg), sixth in minutes played (32.74 mpg), 10th in assists (2.63 apg), and 10th in free throw percentage (76.2).
• Wicks is 60th in defensive rebounds in NCAA Division I
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell ranks seventh in steals (1.44 spg), eighth in assists (2.89 apg), and 19th in scoring (11.8 ppg). 
• Senior Ahmad Harrison is seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (40.3) and ninth in steals (1.38 spg).
• Sophomore Victor Payne ranks sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.5), while he fuels the circuit in league games (57.7).
• Saint Francis ranks second in assists (14.05 apg), second in 3-pointers made (8.00 pg), third in steals (7.62 spg), third in turnover margin (+0.29), third in assist to turnover ratio (1.11), fifth in scoring offense (70.0 ppg), fifth in free throw  percentage (70.5), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (33.9). In NEC games, the Red Flash leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage (37.6), and 3-pointers made (8.88 pg), and is second in scoring (73.0 ppg), second in assists (14.88 apg), second in steals (7.25 spg), and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43).

ON THE ROAD
• Saint Francis will spend 14 of the 28 days in February on the road and will play seven of its final 10 NEC games, starting with a four-game road trip in eight days that begins at Mercyhurst.
• The Red Flash is 1-10 away from Loretto, including 1-8 on the road, 0-2 on a neutral site and on the road, and 1-1 in NEC play. Saint Francis picked up its first road win of the season at Wagner on January 8. The squad is averaging 64.0 points per game on the road and allowing 88.3 points per game, compared to scoring 76.7 points per game and allowing 72.2 points per game at home.
• Saint Francis spent 22 of the first 46 days of the season on the road, but has only been on the road for four of the 43 days since returning from Florida on December 18.
• Redshirt senior Skylar Wicks powers the team with 18.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on the road. Wicks has registered double figures in 10 of the 11 road games this season, including six 20-point performances and a double-double. He has a season-high twice this season, including at Lehigh on November 18. He had 21 points in the last road game at LIU on January 10.
• Redshirt senior Zion Russell is also averaging double figures away from Loretto with 10.2 points per game. Russell has six double-figure point games, including a road high of 15 twice.
• Senior Ahmad Harrison has three 10+ point games away from DeGol Arena, including a season-high 17 points vs Belmont on November 24. 
• Sophomore Ralph Martino, Jr. has two 10+ point games in his last two road games, including a career-high 15 points at LIU. Fellow sophomore Victor Payne also has two 10+ point games on the road, while senior Chris Moncrief, redshirt senior Cam Tweedy, redshirt junior Gestin Liberis, and freshman Paris Papadatos each have one double-figure point game on the road. 


ON THIS DATE
• Saint Francis is 6-9 overall, 3-5 on the road and 4-6 in NEC play on this date.
• Earl Brown posted 20 points and 14 rebounds in a 64-60 win against FDU on this date in 2015. Malik Harmon had 13 points and seven assists. The Red Flash finished 9-9 in NEC play to post its first non-losing conference record in 10 years.
FUN FACTS...
• Gene Steratore was in Loretto as a referee in a 68-66 win for the Red Flash on this date in 2004. Darshan Luckey and Erick Wills had 19 points, while Rashaan Benton added 11 points.