Basketball Recap: St. Francis Comes Up Short

St. Francis was the 56-49 winner over St. Mary when they last played one another back in January of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The St. Francis Red Raiders fell 72-59 to the St. Mary's Lancers on Friday. The Red Raiders have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Despite the loss, St. Francis still got an impressive performance from Matthew Zielinski, who went 9 for 13 on his way to 20 points. Those 20 points gave Zielinski a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Roberts, who posted eight points and seven assists.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Mary's to victory, but perhaps none more so than Israel Wilson, who went 9 of 18 on his way to 25 points and five rebounds. The game was Wilson's third in a row with at least ten points. James Engelbach-Schafer was another key player, dropping a double-double on ten points and 14 boards.

St. Francis' defeat dropped their record down to 5-3. As for St. Mary's, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-6.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. St. Francis will face off against Canisius at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Canisius knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matchups -- so hopefully St. Francis likes a good challenge. As for St. Mary's, they will square off against Nichols at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. St. Mary's is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 61.9 points per game this season.