WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>> For the fourth-straight year, Saint Francis faced CCSU in a "survive and advance" contest, but the Blue Devils came away with a 69-64 win to end the Red Flash season in NEC men's basketball action on Saturday.
>> Chris Moncrief paced Saint Francis with 16 points, while Gestin Liberis posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
>> Skylar Wicks (13 points) and Victor Payne (10 points) also finished in double figures.
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
The last time the Red Flash was in Detrick Gymnasium before Saturday, it was cutting down the nets after defeating CCSU 46-43 in the NEC Championship Game on March 11, 2025. Moncrief came up with the huge steal and made a free throw to help seal the victory in that game nearly 12 months ago.
Similar to that title bout, this game came down to the last three minutes in this regular-season finale, but this time there was no Red Flash magic.Â
Similar to the game against LIU on February 19, Saint Francis held a lead in the second half. Liberis scored on a layup with 6:55 left to give the Red Flash a 58-55 lead. The Blue Devils closed the game on a 15-6 run to eliminate Saint Francis from postseason contention.
CCSU took the lead for good on a jumper with 2:14 left. In the next 89 seconds, the Blue Devils hit two free throws to keep it a one-possession deficit, but the Frankies missed a jumper and turned the ball over twice, including a shot clock violation. CCSU then sealed the win with two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the victory.
FLASH MOMENTSÂ
Trailing 40-29 with 18:44 left in the Frankies went on a 22-4 run to take their largest lead at 51-44 midway through the second half. Moncrief and Payne each had eight points to power the spurt.
After CCSU grabbed a 28-19 lead with 4:04 left in the first half, Saint Francis closed the first frame on a 10-3 surge to go into the locker room trailing, 32-29. Moncrief registered four points in this span.
FLASH NUGGETS
Moncrief's 16 points are the third-most points he has scored this season. He posted double figures for the ninth time in his senior campaign and the 17th time in his career, with all 17 times coming in his last 49 games. The senior, who came to Loretto after one season at Evansville, finished his Saint Francis career with 460 points in 80 games with 38 starts and 518 points in 108 career games.
Liberis wrapped up his Saint Francis career with three-straight 10+ point games. He registered his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career, while he also has five games with at least 10 boards. The redshirt junior scored double figures nine times in 2025-26 and 16 times in his career. Liberis registered 10 points in his last two games at Detrick Gymnasium, after his last time playing in New Britain was the NEC Quarterfinals on March 6, 2024. The redshirt junior played three seasons in Loretto after missing last year due to an injury. Liberis appeared in 87 games with 32 starts, with 437 points and 305 rebounds.
Redshirt senior
KJ Swain, Jr. is the other member of the team who will graduate in May after he joined the team as a walk-on in 2023-24. He appeared in 26 games with three starts in his career, with 47 points and 15 rebounds.
In the last four seasons, the Red Flash has faced the Blue Devils in a win-or-go-home situation. The Red Flash beat the Blue Devils in the odd years in the NEC Quarterfinals in 2023 and the NEC Championship Game in 2025, while CCSU ended the Frankies' season in the even years in the NEC Quarterfinals in 2024 and eliminated them from postseason contention in 2026. All of the games were at Derrick Gymnasium, except for the 2023 meeting, which was also the first time the two teams met in a "survivor and advance" format.
Payne made the most of his time on the court on Saturday, scoring 10 points on the same floor his father played from 1996-00. Both father and son won an NEC title, but the younger Payne is the only one to win his at Derrick Gymnasium. His father helped the Blue Devils to the 2000 NEC title in Trenton, N,J. The Red Flash Payne registered double figures for the 10th time this season and the 11th time in his career.
Wicks needed 15 points to reach 500 points this season and fell two points shy of the mark to finish with 498 points. The 498 points are the 28th most in single-season history. The redshirt senior registered double figures in 25 of the 28 games he played this season, with 12 20-point games. He has 952 career points at four different Division I institutions.
With the loss, the Red Flash was eliminated from playoff contention. Saint Francis missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season and became the third tournament-eligible defending NEC Tournament champion to miss the tournament the following year, joining the 2006-07 Monmouth and 2013-14 LIU.
Saint Francis played in 30 of 45 ECAC Metro/NEC Tournaments, winning the NEC title in 1991 and 2025. The Red Flash also advanced to the NEC Championship Game in 2017, 2019, and 2020. This season marked the 35th Anniversary of the 1991 NEC Tournament title, and Saint Francis retired the jerseys of Joe Anderson (No. 44) and Mike Iuzzolino (No. 42) from that championship team.Â
