Red Flash basketball men will head south for tournament | News, Sports, Jobs

LORETTO — The Saint Francis men’s basketball team announced earlier this week that it will be joining the field of the inaugural Coconut Hoops Tournament on Nov. 24 and 26 at the Alico Arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University.

The Red Flash will take on Belmont in their first game of the tournament on Nov. 24 at 1:30 p.m. Saint Francis will then play either Troy or Toledo on Nov. 26 in either the consolation or championship game at 11a.m. or at 1:30 p.m. All games will be streamed on FloSports.

With the addition of the MTE event, Saint Francis will be rescheduling its non-conference home games against Penn State Shenango, originally scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 23, and Franciscan, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 26. The announcement of those changes will be made at a later date.

Saint Francis is participating in the four-team tournament-style event called The Royal Palm Division, while play in the Tarpon Bay Division spans three days, beginning Monday, Nov. 24, when Rice battles Kennesaw State at 4:30 p.m.

Afterward, Oral Roberts will face FGCU at 7 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 25, Oral Roberts plays Kennesaw State at 4:30 p.m., and Rice plays FGCU at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, Nov. 26, Oral Roberts takes on Rice at 4:30 p.m., followed by Kennesaw State vs. FGCU at 7 p.m.

There is also an eight-team tournament on the women’s basketball side on Friday, Nov. 28 and Sunday, Nov. 30

The event formerly known as the Gulf Coast Showcase was played at Hertz Arena for the past 12 seasons.

The defending Northeast Conference champions kick off their 2025-26 schedule at Oklahoma on Nov. 3. Game time is 8:30 p.m.