STUEBENVILLE, Ohio – Despite trailing  early in the first half against University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, the Franciscan University men's basketball team was able to close the gap to a nine point deficit only to run out of time, losing 82-74. 

The Barons started off slow offensively giving up turnovers and defensively struggling to guard the three-point line. The Bobcats came out firing and the Barons struggled to contend with the quick pace.

"We're a completely new group of guys," head coach John Lamanna said. "That's why there's going to be those times when we're not connected and there will be those times where we are connected.  We need to stay patient and see that there's positive growth."

Franciscan was only able to shoot twenty-two percent in the first half, scoring on only six of their twenty-seven shot attempts while the  Bobcats shot forty-seven perctent from the field. The Barons managed to stay in the game thanks to the play of senior forward Jordan Wilkinson.  Wilkinson had twleve points and nine rebounds in the first half while making seven of his nine free throw attempts. 

"Jordan's play was outstanding, you can't ask much more from any particular player," Lamanna said.

The Barons began to gain some momentum in the second half with some excitement coming from the upperclassmen on the young team. Two dunks from Wilkinson and great plays from junior forward Joseph Rine and junior guard Justin Horstman. 

Almost completely absent from the stat sheet was the team's leading scorer Moses Sullivan who finished the game with one shot attempt. 

"What it comes down to with our group of guys is we're still trying to figure each other out," Lamana said. "You have a situation where your leading scorer only has one shot in the game and that's a big reason for the offensive lows, and sometimes it's a bad combination when an opponent also gets hot."

The Bobcats had control of the game for the majority of play with the upper hand on the offensive end. However, Franciscan was able to pull within nine points but was unable to completely erase the deficit; losing 82-74 with a 39 shooting percentage against the Bobcats shooting at 42 percent.

"I expect us to continue to battle," Lamanna said looking ahead at the rest of the season. "That's what we've been doing all season, and that's been our character. What we're looking for is can we find a group of individuals within our team that will commit themselves to guarding."

The Barons look to continue their battle forward when they host Hilbert College on Dec. 14 at 2 pm.