Francis put up some eye-popping numbers in winning his sixth Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week award of the season. The 6-6 forward averaged an incredible 34.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 66.7 percent from the floor in the two outings. On Thursday, Francis was in another stratosphere with a record-breaking performance in a 94-85 loss to Long Island. He stamped himself a place in the conference recordbook by erupting for a career-high 43 points, which set an NEC freshman record and is the highest total by an NEC player in nine years. The superlatives didn’t end there. It marked the most points scored by a freshman in the country this season (fifth overall) and the most by a rookie since Kansas State’s Michael Beasley hit for 44 against Baylor in 2008. The output also ties for third in school history and ninth on the NEC’s all-time list. His 20 field goals established a new league record and are the most in the nation this season. Finally, the 43 points are the most scored in a Division I game by a player coming off the bench in the last 15 seasons. Francis wrapped up his week with 25 points and a game-high 10 boards in his eighth double-double performance of the season in a 72-61 setback at St. Francis (NY). The Harlem, NY native leads all NEC freshman and is ninth overall in the conference with 14.8 ppg. He also ranks fourth on the circuit in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and eighth in field goal accuracy (.507). His six NEC weekly honors ties him with Wagner’s Latif Rivers for most in the league this season and ranks fourth on the all-time chart.