BRADFORD, Pa. - The Franciscan University men's basketball team finished its 2012-2013 season with a loss against the University of Pitt-Bradford. Despite a quality effort, FUS fell to Bradford, 67-52.

The Barons kept Pitt-Bradford scoreless for nearly three minutes near the beginning of the first half but landed on the wrong end of a 20-2 run that put the game out of reach early. The Barons went into halftime down 37-24.

"We will keep moving forward," head coach John Lamanna said. "At the beginning of next season we will return a strong core of young men."

The Barons are the only team in their conference to start four first-year players. While their youth provides advantages for the future, their lack of experience kept them from being able to fully reach their potential.

"We had times today where we played really well," Lamanna said. "It came to a lack of experience. Our underclassmen are forced to become leaders. It will all come to fruition as they get older and more experienced."

Effort was not the problem for Franciscan as the team forced the Panthers to commit 17 turnovers and collected six steals. The Barons also pulled down 37 rebounds, grabbing four more offensive boards than the Panthers.

Freshman Justin Horstman scored a team high 15 points and big man, Joe Rine, had his tenth double double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward, Caleb Knorr came off the bench with his strongest game of the season scoring eight points while shooting 75 percent from the field. Knorr also collected two rebounds and had a block.

"We were really pleased with him," Lamanna said about Knorr's performance. "He is the epitome of a team player and so much fun to coach."

The Barons will come into the next season hoping to blend their young talent into an AMCC contender.