Barons Suffer Tough Loss to Penn State-Altoona

By Dylan Ehle

The Barons basketball team of Franciscan University of Steubenville hosted Penn State-Altoona on Wednesday night, losing 56-52.  With the loss, the Barons fell to 1-4 (0-2) on the season.

The Barons got off to a fast start, accumulating a 10 point lead halfway through the first half.  However, Penn State-Altoona went on a run of their own, closing the gap to 29-26 at halftime.  In the second half, neither team led by more than 8 points, and there were multiple lead changes.  The Barons cut the deficit to 50-49 on a free throw by Matt Liedel, but turned the ball over down 52-49 with 20 seconds left to play.  Penn State-Altoona then made several clutch free throws, allowing them to come away with the 56-52 victory. 

Josh Ducoulombier led the Barons with 16 points on the night.  Matt Liedel was a close second with 14 points, while Connor Flanagan contributed 13.  Kirk Peters of Penn State-Altoona led all scorers with 18 points, while teammate Zach Spitz had 10, including two clutch free throws down the stretch.

"No one can deny that it was a great game today," Barons coach Sean Donovan remarked.  "If we had been able to convert on a few more possessions, we could have come out with the win.  We were so close, but we have no reason to hang our heads tonight - everyone came through for us.  Mike Feuz and Tom Early gave us great minutes off the bench, and Josh Duke [Ducoulombier] and Matt Liedel led us in scoring.  It was a game of runs, and we were able to hang with Altoona, the number three team in our conference.  It was a great effort for us tonight."

The Barons' next contest is this Friday at D'Youville College  at 4 p.m.