Injured Flash star Blackmon could miss season
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LORETTO -- Just when it seemed everything was setting up for this to be a dream season for Saint Francis, the program was dealt a huge blow in recent days.
Standout junior guard Isaiah Blackmon, the Red Flash's best player, suffered a right knee injury during the second half of Saturday's game at Longwood. MRI results are expected back today, and they will reveal if Blackmon will have to miss the rest of the season or not.
"I'm going to pray and hope that we can get a productive or better result from the MRI," SFU coach Rob Krimmel said Tuesday night after a 96-54 win over Division III Franciscan at DeGol Arena.
"If it's good, we move forward. If it's bad, we've got to adjust some things, obviously, and rally the troops."
Blackmon was a first-team selection to the Northeast Conference preseason team, and for the first time in program history, Saint Francis was picked to win the league. The Flash returned four starters from last year's team that lost in the NEC Tournament championship game, with center Josh Nebo the lone exception as he transferred to Texas A&M.
Now, Blackmon at the very least will miss significant time, if he returns at all this season.
Blackmon was leading the team in scoring (14.3) through three games and is a dynamic player who can get his shot at any time from anywhere on the floor. He averaged 13.7 points for the Flash last season.
Blackmon was with his teammates sitting on the bench during Tuesday's victory.
"For me and the rest of the team, we're just trying to keep him positive and be optimistic with his situation," senior guard Malik Harmon said. "He's one of our brothers, so it's definitely hard to see him going through a situation (like this)."
This is Blackmon's second major knee injury, the first coming when he was a freshman (left knee) and had his season cut short after 19 games. He returned to the court last season but had his minutes watched closely early on as he was still recovering.
"Isaiah's obviously a big part of our offense and how we run things," junior guard Jamaal King said.
With Blackmon out, King and Harmon will be counted on to pick up some of the scoring slack and leadership.
Harmon knows about dealing with a knee injury as he sat out last season with one.
"Going through a lot in my career, I'm going to try to be a big brother to him and try to keep him positive," Harmon said of Blackmon.
Saint Francis played what amounted to a glorified scrimmage Tuesday against a vastly overmatched Division III team that finished 4-20 last season and lost twice to Penn State Altoona.
Still, it was the team's home opener, and it gave the players a chance to get on the floor together and see what things will be like without Blackmon.
"We missed him out there," King said. "Playing with him is fun and enjoyable. But at the same time, next guy up. ... We figure out holes, we figure out how we're going to play."
Despite winning by 42, the Flash didn't play all that well at times as they went through some stretches where they couldn't shake the spunky visitors. Saint Francis led 48-26 at the half, and the second-half totals were nearly identical (48-28).
Krimmel said the focus at the start of the game was "lackadaisical."
King led all scorers with 18 points, while Andre Wolford had 15 off the bench. Keith Braxton added 14 points and Deivydas Kuzavas 10 to go with 11 rebounds.
J.P. Dombrowski (12) and Juwan Perkins (11) reached double digits for Franciscan.
"It was nice to get back to Loretto to play a home game," Krimmel said after starting the season with three road games.
The Flash now head back out on the road, to one of the most difficult venues in college basketball as they play No. 19 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Friday. It will mark the second top 25 opponent for the Flash in the early going as they opened the season at St. Mary's.
"It's going to be fun, that's the first thing," King said of the trip to Louisville. "Everybody go out there and have fun. ... As kids that's what we all dream of, going into top 25 teams and play against some of the best basketball players."
FRANCISCAN (0-2): Holmes 1-4 0-0 2, Perkins 3-8 4-4 11, Trent 1-6 0-0 3, Sablan 0-5 0-0 0, Divens 0-2 0-1 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Marx 0-1 0-0 0, Schriner 1-2 1-1 3, York 1-3 0-2 2, Vernau 2-3 1-2 6, Dombrowski 5-11 2-2 12, Mendicino 1-5 0-0 2, Nowicki 0-0 0-0 0, Hickey 1-4 0-0 3, Salasek 2-4 0-0 4, Foldi 1-1 2-2 4, Sigler 0-0 0-0 0, Pagano 1-1 0-0 2, Jarmusik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 10-14 54.
SAINT FRANCIS (2-2): Kuzavas 4-8 2-3 10, King 7-12 3-4 18, Gaskins 2-4 0-0 4, Braxton 5-8 3-3 14, Harmon 0-4 2-2 2, Flagg 2-4 2-2 6, Wallace 0-3 1-2 1, Meredith 3-6 2-2 8, Baker 4-4 0-0 8, Wolford 5-6 2-3 15, Henry 0-1 0-0 0, Klebon 1-2 0-0 3, Vallien 2-5 0-0 5, McKeithen 0-2 0-0 0, Forehand 0-0 2-4 2. Totals 35-69 19-25 96.
Halftime--Saint Francis, 48-26. 3-Point Goals--Franciscan 4-20 (Vernau 1-1, Hickey 1-3, Trent 1-5, Perkins 1-5, Mendicino 0-1, Divens 0-2, Sablan 0-3), Saint Francis 7-25 (Wolford 3-4, Klebon 1-2, Vallien 1-2, Braxton 1-4, King 1-5, Flagg 0-1, Gaskins 0-1, Meredith 0-2, Harmon 0-2, McKeithen 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Franciscan 31 (York, Divens 4), Saint Francis 41 (Kuzavas 11). Assists--Franciscan 11 (Divens 5), Saint Francis 15 (King, Meredith, Harmon 3). Total Fouls--Franciscan 19, Saint Francis 15. A--676 (3,500).