STEUBENVILLE, OHIO- Franciscan University men's basketball secured their first conference win of the season after a suspense-filled game against D'Youville College, ending 80-77.

The most pivotal moment of the game came with less than five seconds to go. Freshman Garrison Holmes had just taken back the lead for Franciscan, bringing the score to 78-77 after a free throw with a minute remaining on the clock.

The Barons held the ball for most of that last minute, but were unable to put it up to secure the win. The D'Youville Spartans took back possession and with five seconds left, came in for the close shot and the lead. The ball went up and FUS was about to fall behind when junior Joseph Rine blocked the shot and brought the ball back down for the win.

"The biggest play was Joe's block," head coach John Lamana said. "The fact of the matter was that we had to get a defensive stop to put us over the top and we did so by having a huge play by Joe. It was just gigantic."

Leading up to that pivotal play, the Barons maintained strong scoring and quick defense, even in the face of adversity, in order to hold the lead for the majority of the game.

With nine minutes left in the first half, Franciscan evened the score at 17-17 and ran with it. After a three from Timmy Schenk, they took the lead and kept it for the rest of the half, ending 51-40. FUS stayed out front until the last six minutes when the Spartans closed in, keeping the score neck and neck until the last few moments.

Sophomore Moses Sullivan and senior Jordan Wilkinson were out due to injury, but the team remained unified and strong nonetheless.

"The team being able to step up without Moses or Jordan on the court was so significant," Lamana said. "We have faced such significant adversity this year, so early on, and for the guys to not let that truly affect them just speaks volumes to their character."

Sophomores Garrison Holmes, Daniel Kleinschnitz and Timmy Schenk, were called upon to fill the extra guard space. They answered the call and stood out as key players in the day's big win. Kleinschnitz had six steals, 10 points and brought in the two last points on the foul line to make it a three-point game. Schenk scored 21 points and Holmes contributed 19.

Rine, in addition to his critical block in the last few seconds, contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 other blocks. In addition to the four standouts, every other player's performance led to the team's long-awaited success.

"I am just really proud of our players," Lamana said. "They really showed great resiliency and just they didn't have any quit in them. They could have really easily after we let D'Youville back into the game and off of yesterday's emotional loss, it could have gone either way. I am very proud of how hard they continue to compete."

Lamana attributes the team's success to their strength as a unit. Missing two key players, coming off of an emotional loss and constantly struggling with how young the team is are all battles that the Barons have faced together, and Lamana says it is their biggest influence.

"Our team unity- it's unbelievable," Lamana said. "It has been growing, no question, because of the adversity that we have run into. Most teams, if they're not unified, they would have been broken and they would be unable to compete how we did yesterday and today. It's our team unity that is so strong and I am looking forward to see what we can do after Christmas."

Franciscan will continue their season after the New Year on January 2 at 3 p.m. at an away game against Muskingum.