Basketball Game Preview: St. Francis Red Raiders vs. Nichols Vikings

The St. Francis Red Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Nichols Vikings at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Nichols took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on St. Francis, who comes in off a win.

St. Francis is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came out on top against OnTech by a score of 74-63 on Monday. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Red Raiders as it put an end to their four-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Nichols suffered their closest defeat since December 6, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Bishop Timon-St. Jude by a score of 83-80. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 239th, while the Tigers are ranked 78th).

St. Francis will have to keep a close watch on Mitchell Masiello and Tre Paulfrey, a pair of players who had a big impact on Nichols' prior game. Masiello went 11 for 17 en route to 27 points along with five boards and four blocks, while Paulfrey went 9 of 20 on his way to 27 points in addition to six assists and five rebounds. The dominant performance gave Masiello a new career-high in points. Drew Bennett was another key player, going 5 of 8 en route to 12 points and four steals.

Nichols' loss dropped their record down to 7-7. As for St. Francis, they now have a winning record of 6-5.

St. Francis was taken down by Nichols 88-54 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Thankfully for St. Francis, Jakye Rainey (who went 13 for 23 on his way to 36 points along with seven boards and five assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.