STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—Despite a strong first half effort, the Franciscan University men's basketball team had a difficult shooting night in their loss to Penn St. Behrend with a final score of 84-54.

"It was a tale of two halves," head coach John Lamanna said, "The first half we were really good at forcing them to take shots. We were aggressive, we were physical, and they weren't comfortable. Coming into the second half we did not have the same presence because we let our offensive frustration transfer to defense."

Although the Barons played a strong defensive first half, holding the lions to a mere 33 points, they were unable to match that on the offensive end of the court, which put them 11 points behind at the half.

"We had multiple high percentage shots that just didn't fall," Lamanna said, adding that it was a difficult game for some of the Barons' top shooters, especially sophomore guard Timmy Schenk.

"The other team did a great job of sticking to Tim," he said of the Schenk, who is the team's second highest scorer, averaging 11.7 points per game. "He's had such a great season leading up to this point and we're going to have to do a better job of executing to get him open."

Unable to rely on their usual shots, the Barons were forced to adjust offensively, something Lamanna said sophomore post player Joseph Rine did well, taking outside jumpers when his usual inside shots failed to fall.

"He shot the ball better from the perimeter than from the inside," Lamanna said. "That was an adjustment that he made which led to a good game for him."

Rine had double-double for the game and was top-scorer with 16 points and ten rebounds. He was accompanied by junior guards Moses Sullivan and Justin Horstman who contributed 10 and nine points respectively.

Horstman's points were a bright spot in what proved to be a frustrating second half. His three-pointer and four jumpers were not enough, however, for the Barons to maintain offensively as Behrend put up several three-point shots of their own to widen the gap for the win.

Lamanna said the second half struggle was indicative of the team's search for consistency.

"It's a matter of putting the four key points in the game together: the start, the end of the half, the start of the second half, and the end of the game," Lamanna said, "That takes great discipline, leadership, and fortitude.

Lamanna added that with the experience of each game, the men continue to solidify various aspects of the game.

"On days like today, you just have to keep shooting, keep attacking it, and try to keep getting looks to the guys that typically score," Lamanna, "It's a matter of making sure the men know I haven't lost confidence in them, which I haven't. If they keep shooting it will fall."

The Barons will next face LaRoche College at home on Wednesday, Februrary 12 at 6pm.