STEUBENVILLE – Three Barons registered double-doubles as
the Franciscan University of Steubenville Barons basketball team
took on the Hilbert College Hawks Sunday afternoon, clinching a
73-66 victory. This marks the fifth Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference win for the Barons, improving to a 5-12 standing in the
AMCC and 6-15 overall. This victory marks the second time the
Barons defeated the Hawks this season, completing the series
sweep.
The game was postponed from Saturday due to the weekend
snowstorm that hit Steubenville.
It is the first time this season that three Barons registered
double-doubles. Connor Flanagan led the Barons with 23 points and
11 rebounds. Josh Ducoulombier had 19 points, 12 rebounds, four
assists, and three blocks, while Matt Liedel rounded out the trio
with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists.
“We played cohesively today.” Liedel noted,
“It was a real team effort and no one was playing selfishly
out there.”
The Barons took an early lead against the Hawks, hitting two
three-pointers for an early 12-2 advantage. Hilbert rallied back
with a run that gradually closed the gap. By halftime the Barons
held a small 34-31 lead.
The Barons and the Hawks continued to battle in the second half,
neither able to gain an advantage greater than four points. The
Barons finally gained a sizable lead when Sam Titus knocked down a
three-pointer to give the Barons a 67-62 advantage. The Barons took
control of the game and Thomas Kleinschnitz and Connor Flanagan
grabbed back-to-back steals and scored breakaway baskets to extend
the lead and seal the victory.
“It feels good for us to be playing this
consistently,” commented Flanagan. “We played very well
offensively, and did a great job of crashing the boards.”
Barons coach Sean Donovan was pleased by his team's
victory: “Resilience – that's what got us this
win today. We were resilient down the stretch. Duke
[Ducoulombier] and Matt [Liedel] pulled down some big rebounds for
us in the final minutes. Our defense definitely picked it up and we
really played well as a unit. It was a team victory for us today,
no doubt about it.”
The Barons' next contest is at home this Wednesday against
Frostburg at 8 p.m.
