PITTSBURGH, Pa.—The Franciscan University Barons basketball team held a deceiving 3-18 record entering Wednesday night's game against the La Roche College Redhawks. But the Barons have a knack for bringing top conference teams right down the wire at home games, including one overtime game against the Redhawks in January. On Wednesday night, the Barons and Redhawks battled back and forth again, ultimately leading to another Baron defeat. La Roche outlasted Franciscan 75-60.
The final score is not an appropriate measure of how close the game was. The Barons got themselves in a hole early, going down 13-2 after the first five minutes of play. But a three-pointer by Frank Murray got the Barons back on track as they slowly chipped away at the La Roche lead.
Senior Connor Flanagan's foul shot gave them a 34-33 lead with just over a minute left to play in the first half, but the Redhawks answered with a jumper, a lay-up, and a steal with one second left on the clock in the first half, leading to a desperation baseline jumper that was good at the buzzer. The Redhawks took a six-point lead at the half.
Franciscan came out for the second half looking to push the ball and keep up with the Redhawks, starting with a 6-2 run to tie the score at 41. At the 15 minute mark the two teams swapped baskets for three minutes, each team getting up to at least four-point leads.
"We got a little bit cold and they got hot at the right time," said head coach Sean Donovan.
With the score at 53-50 in favor of La Roche, Redhawk Laron Mann buried a deep three that widened the gap to six, and after a defensive stop, the Redhawks got a lay-up to bump their lead to eight. The team held the lead for the remainder of the game.
"The boys played their hearts out tonight," Donovan said. "Like I told them in the locker room after, they really have no reason to hang their heads. That was a perfect example of two teams fighting until the end.
Thomas Kleinschnitz lead all scorers on the night with 23 points and eight rebounds, and Flanagan pitched in with an impressive double-double, netting 15 points and pulling down 14 boards. Murray went 5-6 from the field in his 13-point effort. David Rainwater also had a solid game off the bench for the Barons, noted by Donovan. "David played outstanding tonight on the defensive end. He came up really big."
Donovan also added that conference-leading La Roche's interim head coach Harry Jenkins had some nice words about Franciscan after the game, telling Coach Donovan, "Man, you guys are tough to play. We always love playing games against you."
The Barons are now 3-19 overall and 3-14 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The team is back in action when they host D'Youville College on Saturday, February 19, at 6 p.m. as they celebrate Senior Night.
