Men's Basketball | 3/2/2026 12:30:00 PM
Gestin Liberis, a member of the Saint Francis men's basketball team, has been named an NEC Prime Performer for the week of February 23-March 1. He ended his career at Saint Francis with his first NEC recognition.
Liberis averaged 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in three games in the week. The redshirt junior was perfect in a 73-67 win against New Haven on Tuesday, going 7-for-7 from the floor, 1 of 1 from behind the arc, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line on his way to a career-high 19 points, along with nine rebounds and two steals. With the Red Flash clinging to a 69-67 lead, Liberis had a monster jam with 16.6 seconds left to seal the win. Liberis then had 15 points against Stonehill on Thursday and then finished the regular season with 10 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the year against CCSU on Saturday. He shot 65.5 percent (19-for-29) from the field in the three games. It was the first time in his career that he registered three-straight games in double figures. In an odd statistic, Liberis finished the two makeup games on the Red Flash schedule 13-for-13 from the floor, 1-for-1 from behind the arc, and 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Along with Tuesday's game against the Chargers, Saint Francis had a makeup game against Chicago State on February 9, and Liberis had 17 points, a career high until his 19 points in West Haven on Tuesday.
Liberis averaged 7.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season, leading the team in blocks (18) and ranking second in rebounding. 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.
Freshman
Paris Papadatos was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of December 1-7 after scoring 19 points against Penn State Shenango on December 3 and 15 points at Radford on December 7 for the only major weekly award this season.
Redshirt senior
Skylar Wicks led the team with nine NEC Prime Performer distinctions, while redshirt senior
Zion Russellhad a pair, and Liberis and seniors
Ahmad Harrison and
Chris Moncrief each earned one recognition.
'With a 69-64 loss at CCSU on Saturday, 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.
