Saint Francis Men's Hoops Hosts Stonehill for MLK Day Noon Tip-Off

Stonehill College (6-12, 3-2 NEC) at Saint Francis (4-14, 2-3 NEC) Date | Time Monday, January 19, 2026 | 12 p.m. Location Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arenna Television NEC Front Row (Pat Farabaugh (pxp), Bernie Jubeck (analyst) Live Stats Sidearm Printable Notes Saint Francis | Stonehill Stats Saint Francis | Stonehill | 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. 6.6 1.9 42.0 Averaging 9.0 ppg in NEC play G F Skylar Wicks 6-6 190 R-Sr. 17.8 7.0.5 39.5 Ranks second in NEC in scoring G 15 Victor Payne 6-4 190 So. 6.4 3.5 43.8 Looking for three-straight 10+ points for first time F 21 Gestin Liberis 6-9 225 R-Jr. 4.9 4.7 50.0 Matched NEC high of 14 points against CCSU G 55 Ahmad Harrison 6-1 190 Sr. 8.3 1.8 41.3 Matched season high with 14 points vs CCSU 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. 11.7 4.0 38.2 Five straight 10+ point games G 3 Brandon Russell 6-5 185 Fr. 2.9 1.6 25.4 Had five points in last two home games G/F 4 Ralph Martino, Jr. 6-6 180 So. 6.8 2.4 55.4 Averaging 8.4 ppg in NEC play G 7 Paris Papadatos 6-4 185 Fr. 6.6 1.5 39.7 Buzzer beater vs FDU was No. 9 on #SCTop10 F 20 Cam Tweedy 6-6 240 R-Sr. 4.4 2.7 54.0 Has four rebounds in six games this season SELECT GAME NOTES VS. STONEHILL (FULL GAME NOTES PDF) FRANKIES TIDBITS IN A FLASH • Saint Francis has completed the 2025 NEC Tournament opponent tour after facing Wagner, LIU and CCSU, the three teams the Red Flash defeated on its way to its second NEC Tournament title in March 2025. • The irony of the Red Flash's next opponent is what could have changed the tournament if events of March 1, 2025, were different. If the Chicago State player had not missed the dunk, or the Cougars had beaten the Frankies in overtime, Saint Francis would have travelled to Stonehill, Massachusetts, instead of hosting Wagner in the NEC Quarterfinals. • Monday's meeting against the Skyhawks marks the seventh meeting in the all-time series dating back to December 31, 2023. • Stonehill has won the last three in the series, all three times the games have been in New England, and the last meeting in Loretto to take a 4-2 advantage since joining the NEC in 2022-23. • Two years ago, the home team won by the identical score of 72-63 on its home floor, while last year the two games were separated by nine points despite the Skyhawks taking both matchups. • Monday marks the 40th Anniversary of the first national celebration of Martin Luther King Day, despite President Ronald Reagan signing a bill creating it as a national holiday in 1983. It is the sixth time this holiday has fallen on January 19, including the second observance in 1987. • Did you know that Pennsylvania signed MLK Day into law as a state holiday in 1978, and the holiday has been observed in the Keystone State since 1979, with schools starting to close? • Though King's official birthday is January 15, it is celebrated as the third Monday in January under the Uniform Monday Act to create long weekends with three days off ending with a holiday. • Keeping to the MLK holiday, but how it relates to Red Flash basketball. Saint Francis is 2-12 on MLK Day and 1-3 at home since the first federal holiday in 1986. Saint Francis first played on the holiday in 1988 at DeGol Arena against Penn. • The team played on the holiday every year from 1999 to 2004, probably in connection with the Thursday-Saturday-Monday format discussed in the last set of notes. (After the 2003-04 season, the NEC men's basketball season went to Thursday-Saturday weekends until the adoption of the mirror schedule in 2020-21.) However, the NEC has held an MLK Day game since 1999, except in 2021 due to COVID. • The Frankies are looking for their first win on the MLK federal holiday since a 78-70 win against Quinnipiac at home on January 18, 1999. It will be the first home game on the holiday since 2024 against FDU. • Saint Francis will wrap its second three-game homestand in 35 days versus Chicago State on Friday. • After the game against the Cougars, the Red Flash will have seven of its final 11 NEC games on the road. AN SFU WIN WOULD • Improve NEC record to 3-3 • Split the first three NEC weekends by winning the second game of the weekend for the second time at home • End a three-game losing streak against Stonehill • Be the third win against the Skyhawks at DeGol Arena • End an 11-game losing streak on MLK Day • Be the first win first win on MLK Day since defeating Quinnipiac 78-70 on January 18, 1999 • Be the fourth win at home this season ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS • Stonehill comes into the contest 6-12 overall and 3-2 in NEC play after defeating Mercyhurst 62-57 in overtime on Saturday. • Chas Stinson paced the Skyhawks with 15 points, while Davante Hackett (12 points), Ethan Meuser (10 rebounds), and Ridvan Tutic (10 rebounds) also registered a 10+ in a statistic against the Lakers. • Hermann Koffi leads the team with 14.2 points per game. Hackett is also averaging double figures with 11.8 points per game. LAST TIME WE MET • Despite a career-high 24 points from Valentino Pinedo, Saint Francis falls 79-74 at Stonehill on February 13, 2025. • Daemar Kelly added 12 points, and Riley Parker tallied 10 points and six rebounds. • Todd Brogna paced the Skyhawks with 18 points. Hermann Koffi (17 points), Ethan Meuser (17 points), and Louie Semona (11 points) also found double figures. LAST TIME OUT • CCSU defeated Saint Francis 98-90 on Saturday. • Ahmad Harrison paced five Red Flash players in double figures with 17 points and a career-high seven assists. The senior shot 7-for-14 from the floor on the afternoon. • Gestin Liberis (14 points), Skylar Wicks (14 points), Zion Russell (14 points), and Victor Payne (12 points) also had double figures for the Loretto program. • It marked the first time the Red Flash had five players in double figures since March 1, 2025, against Chicago State. • Saint Francis scored 90 points in a game against a Division I opponent for the first time since February 18, 2023 against LIU. • Saint Francis has scored 90 points or more 239 times and has an overall record of 213-26 overall (141-24 when scoring 90 points and 72-2 when it hits 100 points) dating back to January 16, 1949, when it scored 90 points for the first time in a 103-49 win against Franciscan. • It was the first time the team lost when it scored 90 points in a game since falling 94-92 at FDU on January 26, 2021, but the first time in a game that did not go to overtime since a 106-91 defeat at Sacred Heart on December 9, 2006 (FUN FACT: Associate head coach Devin Sweetney had 12 points in the game). It was also the first time since a 96-94 loss against LIU on February 6, 2003, that the Frankies scored 90 points and lost at home. • The first time Saint Francis scored 90 points in a game and lost was a 96-93 loss at Toledo on January 30, 1956, and the first time at home was a 102-91 loss against Marshall on December 21, 1964. FUN FACT: Saint Francis was 29-0 when Maurice Stokes played from 1951-55, with an 18-0 record when scoring 90 points and 11-0 when reaching 100 points.