By: Monica Hogan  

STEUBENVILLE, OH- Franciscan University of Steubenville men's basketball team dropped their final home game of the season in overtime against the top-ranked team in the Alleghany Mountain Collegiate Conference Penn State-Behrend, 71-69. This marked the last home contest for senior captains Robert Slattery and Curtis Allen.

The visiting Lions jumped out to an early lead, but the Barons tied things up 26-26 with 5 minutes remaining in the first half. FUS shot an outstanding 53.8 percent from the field. Both teams went into the locker room tied at 33 all.

The Barons managed to pull ahead by as much as 7 in the second half, but the Lions were able to bring it back. Unable to get off a shot in the final seconds, the Barons found themselves in their first overtime game of the season tied up at 66-66. Neither team was able to score in the first 2:50 of OT until Behrend made a two-pointer. The defensive battle continued for both teams, but Behrend got the better hand with a final score of 71-69.

Slattery is 12th in the AMCC averaging 13.0 points per game and led the Barons with 16. Slattery also had six boards, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Andrew Kay also had 16 points. Allen had 9 in his final home appearance, making 3 of his 4 shots from long-range. Sam Titus had 13, and Josh Ducoulombier had 9 to round out the top scorers.

"When they (Penn State-Behrend) jumped out to that lead early on, most anyone would have folded," FUS Head Coach Sean Donovan said after the game. "But we continued to battle, playing an absolutely outstanding defensive game. We shot really well, and had some of those late bounces gone our way the game would have been ours. But we played so hard, and I'm really proud of our team for coming back and fighting in this game. Our motivation tonight was to play hard for Curtis and Rob in their final home game, and I think we did that well tonight."

The Barons have two games left on the season, the next coming on Wednesday Feb. 18, away against conference opponent Medaille College.