PITTSBURGH — The men from Franciscan University of Steubenville traveled to La Roche College on Monday to take on the second-ranked team in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Barons kept it close for the majority of the first half, but La Roche eventually broke free en route to an 85-47 victory.

Despite the loss, Barons head coach John Lamanna said the execution of his team's game plan was much improved. "It was the first time we've really executed all season," he noted. "We're looking to take minor victories, and even though our results are still the same, that was very positive. Moving forward, we now have a level of expectation that we can execute in the future."

The Barons faced one of the top three-point shooting teams in the AMCC. La Roche started out the game 5-6 from three-point range as the home team jumped out to a 15-10 lead to start the game. The Red Hawks finished the game shooting 52 percent from three, going 15-29 on the game.

The Barons again relied heavily on the play of Nolan Albrecht and Frank Murray, as they have all season. Albrecht led the team with 17 points and eight rebounds in 39 minutes, while Murray contributed 15 points playing close to the full 40 minute. 

"It was nice to have solid production from Frank [Murray] since we hadn't had much from him the last couple games [due to an injury suffered last Sunday,]" Lamanna said of his floor leader. "[Freshman] Nolan [Albrecht]'s production has been that of an upperclassmen's. It's exciting seeing him grow and develop."

Lamanna also noted the play of sophomore point guard Peter Mooney. "His decision-making was better tonight than it has been all year, and that was against the toughest defense he is going to see."

Franciscan is continuing to make strides toward ending its season-long win drought which is what the Barons look to do on Saturday afternoon as they host the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford at 1 p.m.