STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—The Franciscan men's basketball team had flashes of brilliance on both ends of the court but was unable to dictate the tempo of the game against the number five ranked conference team, Hilbert College, and lost with a final score of 77-60.

"We didn't come out with enough aggression, and Hilbert is a very good team," head coach John Lamanna said. "We had glimpses, which is great, but glimpses aren't going to carry you over to the positive side."

Struggling against Hilbert's constant full-court press, the Barons fell into a slump nine minutes into the first half, allowing the Hawks a lead which increased to 12. A renewed Baron offensive at the end of the half narrowed the gap to seven with a score of 30-23, thanks in large part to two big shots from junior captain, Christian Duke.

The start of the second half only solidified Hilbert's lead, however, as the Barons turned the ball over and fell further and further behind.

With 5:11 left on the clock, the deficit was 18 points, but two steals by freshman forward John Paul Dombrowski led to two 3-pointers from freshman guards Jonas McCaig and Keoni Sablan and gave FUS hope of a comeback.

This, combined with field goals from senior guard Moses Sullivan, sophomore guard Jacob Divens, and Dombrowski brought the game back within the Barons' reach. A few late missed threes and good foul shooting by the Hawks kept the Barons from completing the comeback.

"Tonight, right from the beginning, we did not have good control over the tempo of the game," Lamanna said. "We did a good job of ending the half, but then right from the second half we went back to back turnovers and from that point on we didn't have control. That's the difference in the game."

Lamanna added that part of the Barons' difficulty stemmed from defensive frustration, particularly in shutting down the Hawks' key big men, Jerame Owens and Ryan Bradt. Combining for 40 of the team's 77 points and 13 rebounds, Owens and Bradt were unstoppable at the rim.

"That's why they have the field goal percentage that they have," Lamanna said, adding that the Barons' 20 boards to Hilbert's 32 was also a significant factor.

"It's no coincidence that we didn't have control of the tempo," Lamanna said.

Offensively, the Barons were led by Divens and Sablan with 11 points each, followed by Dombrowski and McCaig with eight apiece. Divens also added four steals to the team's overall 13.

Freshman guard Rich Cross was another pivotal factor on both ends of the court, playing one of his best offensive games with five efficient points and a handful of forced turnovers.

"I was very pleased with Rich's effort tonight. He was very solid," Lamanna said. "Statistically you don't even see how well he guarded, but he did a very good job of defending tonight, getting multiple hands on balls and deflections. He had one steal but he probably caused 3-4 more team steals."

As the Barons look forward to their next home game against Pitt-Greensburg on Wednesday, February 4 at 8pm, Lamanna said his team will be focusing on their press-breaker and managing the pace of the game.

"Greensburg is going to be pressing us for 40 straight minutes and they're going to want to score 100 points," Lamanna said. "It's going to be a battle of will, a battle of tempo, and whoever wins the tempo will most likely have the advantage."