Cranford and Saint Francis (PA) defeat LIU in Northeast Conference Tournament 71-68
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Cranford Jr. scored 17 of his 20 points after intermission and sealed the victory with a free throw with one second left as St. Francis (PA) defeated LIU 71-68 on Saturday in a Northeast Conference Tournament semifinal game.
St. Francis advances to the NEC title game to face the winner between top-seeded Central Connecticut and fourth-seeded Farleigh Dickinson on Tuesday.
Cranford shot 6 for 11 (2 for 5 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line for the third-seeded Red Flash (15-17). Chris Moncrief shot 5 of 8 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to add 15 points. Riley Parker had 13 points and went 4 of 8 from the field (3 for 6 from 3-point range).
Jamal Fuller scored 21 points and Blake Lander 13 for LIU (17-16).
Parker scored 11 points in the first half and Saint Francis trailed 38-23 at halftime. Cranford scored a team-high 17 points for Saint Francis in the second half, including their game-winning shot in the final minute.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Alysa Liu plans to bring back triple Axel for Olympic season
World figure skating champion Alysa Liu plans to reincorporate the triple Axel into her programs for the upcoming Olympic season. In an interview with retired NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, Liu was asked, "What's the next technical statement that you're going to make?" Advertisement "Yeah, I'm pretty risky on the ice," she said. "This (past) season, not as much, just because I was focusing on my stamina. But now that it's back, I'm going to be trying my triple Axels a lot more and incorporating those into my programs next season." This past season, the 2022 Olympian Liu returned from a two-year retirement. She worked her way up, entered the World Championships ranked eighth in the field by best total score on the season and then became the first U.S. women's singles skater to win a world title in 19 years. 'Personally, I can be so much better,' Liu said at worlds, reflecting on the season. 'That's why I call this a starter season because this season is me picking up the pieces." Advertisement Liu is the youngest woman to land a triple Axel — at age 12 in 2018. She also landed a quadruple jump at age 14 — the first American woman to do so. She attempted neither a triple Axel nor a quad in the 2024-25 season. She last attempted a triple Axel in competition at the 2022 World Championships and last landed a positively graded (clean) triple Axel at the 2020 World Junior Championships, according to But Liu did train the triple Axel in practices in the Bay Area last season. The triple Axel carries 4.7 more base points than the double Axel, which can be a significant difference. Liu won the world title by 4.99 points over three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. Advertisement U.S. champion Amber Glenn was the lone woman to attempt a triple Axel at the 2025 World Championships, though a few others performed the jump at other senior competitions in 2024-25. Such as Adeliya Petrosian, an 18-year-old from Russia who is shaping up to be a 2026 Olympic medal contender. She was the only senior women's singles skater in the world to land both a clean quadruple jump and a clean triple Axel in competition this past season, according to Petrosian competed strictly in domestic events in Russia since all Russian skaters have been banned from international competition since shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Petrosian has been cleared by the International Skating Union to compete as an individual neutral athlete at an Olympic qualifier in September in China, where she could earn a spot for herself at the Milan Cortina Games. Advertisement A skater from Russia won the last three Olympic women's singles titles. The U.S. last earned an Olympic women's singles medal in 2006 — Sasha Cohen's silver. Figure skating Grand Prix assignments: Alysa Liu, Chock/Bates headline Skate America The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating starts in October.
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- NBC Sports
Alysa Liu plans to bring back triple Axel for Olympic season
World figure skating champion Alysa Liu plans to reincorporate the triple Axel into her programs for the upcoming Olympic season. In an interview with retired NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, Liu was asked, 'What's the next technical statement that you're going to make?' 'Yeah, I'm pretty risky on the ice,' she said. 'This (past) season, not as much, just because I was focusing on my stamina. But now that it's back, I'm going to be trying my triple Axels a lot more and incorporating those into my programs next season.' This past season, the 2022 Olympian Liu returned from a two-year retirement. She worked her way up, entered the World Championships ranked eighth in the field by best total score on the season and then became the first U.S. women's singles skater to win a world title in 19 years. 'Personally, I can be so much better,' Liu said at worlds, reflecting on the season. 'That's why I call this a starter season because this season is me picking up the pieces.' Liu is the youngest woman to land a triple Axel — at age 12 in 2018. She also landed a quadruple jump at age 14 — the first American woman to do so. She attempted neither a triple Axel nor a quad in the 2024-25 season. She last attempted a triple Axel in competition at the 2022 World Championships and last landed a positively graded (clean) triple Axel at the 2020 World Junior Championships, according to But Liu did train the triple Axel in practices in the Bay Area last season. The triple Axel carries 4.7 more base points than the double Axel, which can be a significant difference. Liu won the world title by 4.99 points over three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. U.S. champion Amber Glenn was the lone woman to attempt a triple Axel at the 2025 World Championships, though a few others performed the jump at other senior competitions in 2024-25. Such as Adeliya Petrosian, an 18-year-old from Russia who is shaping up to be a 2026 Olympic medal contender. She was the only senior women's singles skater in the world to land both a clean quadruple jump and a clean triple Axel in competition this past season, according to Petrosian competed strictly in domestic events in Russia since all Russian skaters have been banned from international competition since shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Petrosian has been cleared by the International Skating Union to compete as an individual neutral athlete at an Olympic qualifier in September in China, where she could earn a spot for herself at the Milan Cortina Games. A skater from Russia won the last three Olympic women's singles titles. The U.S. last earned an Olympic women's singles medal in 2006 — Sasha Cohen's silver. Nick Zaccardi,
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
SFU's McConnell excited for family's success
LORETTO, PA (WTAJ) — Saint Francis basketball coach Luke McConnell laughs thinking about the message he sent his cousin T.J. after the Indiana Pacers won the Eastern Conference Finals. 'I literally think my text was, 'Dude, you're in the NBA Finals' and he's like, 'I know, right?' Like crazy.,' he recalls. Luke is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater, Saint Francis University. His cousin T.J. has played in the NBA for a decade and Thursday made his NBA Finals debut. It's a moment the two used to practice as kids. 'We would cut our dad's dress socks and wear the sleeve like Allen Iverson. Just kids who loved watching basketball loved the NBA,' he said. 'Playing ten, nine, eight where, you know, there's 10 seconds left in game seven… So to go from that to see what he's been able to accomplish is, is really fun.' Luke grew up in Blair County, T.J. in Pittsburgh. The sons of basketball coaches they spent a lot of their summers going back and forth from camp to camp, learning basketball together. 'Our dads each had basketball camps, so we would each go back and forth to our dad's basketball camps, you know, going to Pittsburgh, coming back to Hollidaysburg, playing in the driveway to see where he's come from. That it's surreal in a way,' said Luke. Since the driveway, T.J. has balled at Arizona, then with the Sixers and in 2019 he joined the Pacers where he's been a steady presence off the bench and leader in the locker room. 'I want a lot of us to know how hard it is to get here. But the job's not done. You know, we have four more wins, and we've got to focus on that,' said T.J. during the NBA Finals media day. '(It) never ceases to amaze us what he's able to accomplish,' said Luke. 'So for him to reach the finals, literally the biggest stage in basketball is, it's unbelievable to think about, but not surprising at the same time with what he's been able to do.' The McConnells are basketball royalty in Pittsburgh. Luke coaches Saint Francis, the same school his dad coached at. T.J. is with the Pacers, his dad Tim is a WPIAL coaching legend, and his sister Megan just made her WNBA debut. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
