ALTOONA, Pa.—The score of Wednesday night's game against Penn State Altoona didn't give the best first impression of the Baron basketball team of Franciscan University. The Barons lost their third straight game, 63-79, but the score gave little indication as to how the game actually went. The Barons now stand 2-5 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

"Overall it was one of those games; it was a lot closer than what the final score indicated," said head coach Sean Donovan. "We were down by only three points at halftime. We were playing good defense. We moved the ball a lot better on the offensive side. But we had some chances at the end with second and third opportunities and didn't take them."

The Penn State Altoona Lions quickly dominated offensively in the first half, leading by as much as eight points. The Barons slowly came back with some key shots by Nate Stanton and steady senior Thomas Kleinschnitz who led with 14 points on the half. The Lions held the lead by only three, 31-28, at the half.

"We need to take control of the board and make the best of each possession," noted Donovan. "We got a little behind and started looking to take some big shots, but if we missed, we were done. We didn't have guys crashing the board for second and third opportunities, whereas they [Penn State Altoona] did and that made all the difference."

"Nate [Stanton] had a good night shooting and David Rainwater played some great defense," Donovan added.

Stanton notably totaled 13 points and two assists on the night. Thomas Kleinschnitz added 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and Flanagan also contributed 10 rebounds on top of his 21 points.

Looking forward to the weekend, Coach Donovan prepares the Barons to take on the number one team in the AMCC, Penn State Behrend. The game is set for Saturday, January 15, at 4 p.m. in the Finnegan Fieldhouse.