Mar 12, 2025
Photo courtesy of SFU / SFU celebrates on the court at Central Connecticut State Tuesday night.
From Mirror, wire reports
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — For the first time since 1991, the Saint Francis men’s basketball team is going dancing.
The Red Flash, the third seed in the Northeast Conference Tournament, completed an unlikely run through the rest of the NEC, finishing with a 46-43 win over Central Connecticut State on Tuesday evening.
Saint Francis started the tournament with a narrow 58-55 victory over sixth-seeded Wagner in Loretto last week before getting a pair of road wins to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Flash beat No. 2 Long island, 71-68, on Saturday in the semis.
It ended the nation’s longest active win streak at 14 and earned the Red Flash their second trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The clincher turned out to be by far the biggest defensive battle of the season.
“If you didn’t have a rooting interest, what a basketball game,” Saint Francis coach Rob Krimmel told ESPN. “We set the offense back a little bit. It was a good, old-fashioned rock fight, but we did a great job all night of not allowing them to get on a sustained run.
“It’s a little surreal right now. It hasn’t really sunk in. When you start in the summer and you have your first practice and first game, everyone in the country is working towards this.”
The Blue Devils tied the game at 43 with 17 seconds left, but rather than take a timeout, Red Flash sophomore Daemar Kelly hit a jumper with nine seconds left. Saint Francis forced a turnover with 1.6 seconds to play. Chris Moncrief made the back end of a pair of free throws to put it at 46-43. A heave from Central Connecticut State at half-court clanked off the rim to end the game.
Saint Francis (16-17) had lost five in a row to the Blue Devils (25-7), including twice this season by a combined 31 points.
The fourth time was the charm for coach Rob Krimmel, who lost in three previous trips to the title game in 2017 and 2019-20.
Saint Francis freshman Juan Cranford Jr. and Blue Devils’ junior Devin Haid both scored 14 and were the only players to reach double figures.
“The first couple times we played them, we didn’t really get the reads we wanted,” Cranford said. “This time, we were more patient with our reads and things opened up for us.”
The two teams played to a 20-20 tie in a cold-shooting first half.
Cranford opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and he hit a jumper to give the Red Flash a 37-33 lead with 9:50 left. Central Connecticut State scored the next four points, but Riley Parker answered with a 3-pointer to put Saint Francis up three with 7:20 left.
The Red Flash led by four when Devin Haid made two free throws to end a five-minute scoring drought for the Blue Devils. He missed his next two shots before sinking a jumper to tie it at 41 with 1:42 left. Valentino Pinedo had a go-ahead basket but missed a chance at a three-point play. Joe Ostrowsky tied it for the final time with 17 seconds left. Haid missed a 3-pointer to end it.
But it was the defense that lifted Saint Francis throughout the game, making life hard on the Blue Devils all night.
“We had to make it difficult for them,” Krimmel said. “They’re so talented. In the first half, as a staff, we said, ‘We are making them shoot contested shots.’ And we were missing some open ones. Defensively we were locked in. I thought we did a much better job rebounding tonight and not letting them get second and third opportunities at the rim.”
Saint Francis will likely play in the First Four in Dayton against another 16-seed next week.
“What an honor to be able to coach this group,” Krimmel said. “They’ve embraced the journey better than any group I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach. The guys drove the bus. Player-driven teams are the best coach because you don’t have to do a whole heck of a lot. I don’t know how many plays I called tonight. I trusted our guys. They made the plays they needed to make.”
ST. FRANCIS (16-17): Pinedo 4-7 1-3 9, Cranford 6-15 0-0 14, Kelly 3-12 0-0 6, Moncrief 2-6 1-2 5, Parker 2-9 0-0 6, Sanon 1-4 1-2 3, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Clayville 1-4 0-0 3, Rosenberger 0-2 0-0 0, Webb 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 3-7 46.
CCSU (25-7): Momoh 3-5 0-0 6, Brown 1-6 0-0 2, Haid 4-16 6-8 14, Jo.Jones 2-10 0-0 4, Ostrowsky 3-7 0-0 6, Smith 2-4 0-0 6, Sweatman 2-6 0-0 5, McGlone 0-2 0-0 0, Frazier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-56 6-8 43.
Halftime–20-20. 3-Point Goals–St. Francis 5-26 (Parker 2-5, Cranford 2-7, Clayville 1-3, Moncrief 0-1, Rosenberger 0-1, Sanon 0-1, Webb 0-1, Kelly 0-7), CCSU 3-17 (Smith 2-4, Sweatman 1-2, Jo.Jones 0-1, McGlone 0-2, Ostrowsky 0-3, Haid 0-5). Rebounds–St. Francis 36 (Kelly 7), CCSU 39 (Momoh 11). Assists–St. Francis 9 (Kelly 3), CCSU 5 (Jo.Jones 2). Total Fouls–St. Francis 11, CCSU 11.
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