BRADFORD, Pa.—Coming off of a tough overtime loss to La Roche College on Monday, the Franciscan University Barons took the court at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and came out firing the three-point ball. Unfortunately for the Barons, they could not hold on to an early lead as they fell to the Panthers 81-67.
"[The loss] certainly wasn't because of a lack of effort, we just met a sharp shooting Pitt-Bradford team," said head coach Sean Donovan. "We have to find that rhythm again."
The first eight minutes of the contest belonged to the Barons as they started on a 15-6 run which included three-pointers from Thomas Kleinschnitz, Frank Murray, Connor Flanagan, and Sean Wayne. But in the next five minutes, the Panthers picked up the momentum and countered with an 18-2 run. Baron guard Frank Murray scored eight points in the last seven minutes of the first half as part of his 13 first-half points to help the Barons climb back to within six.
The Barons would push the point deficit to within four in the second half, but it was as close as they would come as the Panthers dominated from the field and the foul line, shooting 45 percent overall in the game and 7-7 in the second half from the foul line, earning a 92 percent in foul line shooting.
"Thomas Kleinschnitz really demonstrated great poise offensively tonight, taking care of the ball when we needed it," Donovan noted. Kleinschnitz once again led the way for the Barons as he finished with a game-high 22 points, adding 12 rebounds for the double-double. "Frank Murray had his best overall game on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor tonight. And he really found his offensive rhythm in the first half," said Donovan. Murray finished with a season-high 19 points (5-6 3PT) and eight boards on the afternoon. Flanagan was the only other Baron in double figures with 12 points, and Wayne chipped in with eight.
The Barons are now 2-13 overall and 2-8 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Franciscan will host the Mount Aloysius Mounties Wednesday night with the game beginning at 8 p.m. One of the two Baron wins this season came at Mount Aloysius back in December, but Coach Donovan still expects another close game: "We're going to see a very young, athletic Aloysius team. We expect a dog fight."
