STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Three starters finished in double figures for the Franciscan men's basketball team but it was visiting Bethany (W. Va.) that walked away with an 88-75 victory Thursday night in the Barons final game of 2015.

The trio of sophomores, John Paul Dombrowski, Keoni Sablan, and Jonas McCaig, combined for 51 points while Sablan led the way with 19 points behind 7-15 shooting. Dombrowski pulled down a team0-best nine rebounds and chipped in 17 points after shooting a near-perfect 8-10 from the floor. McCaig poured in a season-best 15 points for the Barons.

Sablan and Dombrowski combined for the Barons' first nine points of the game but the Bison sprinted out to a 16-12 lead after the first six minutes of action. The four point deficit would be as close as the Barons would get for the contest. Over the next six minutes the Bison built as 15-point lead behind a pair of three pointers from Alan Harper. Dombrowksi sparked the crowd with an electric dunk to kick off a 10-2 run for FUS to cut the lead to 31-24 with 6:16 to play.

A pair of free throws from sophomore Garrison Holmes and a jumper from Sablan pulled the Barons within five with just over five to play in the first but the Bison closed out the half with a  10-8 advantage to take a 43-36 lead into the locker room.

The opening five minutes of the second were a back and forth affair just as the closing five of the first was but Bethany built a 16-point lead with 11 minutes to play. Travon Cotton converted a tradition three-point play with 8:09 to play to give the Bison their largest lead of the game up until that point, 70-51, with 8:09 to play.  Liam Davis' layup at 6:23 put Bethany up 76-53. The Bison kept the Barons at bay over the final five minutes though the home team scored the final five points of the half to close out the game 88-75 in favor of the Bison.

FUS shot a season best 45.9% (28-61) from the floor and went 10-12 from the free throw line as a team.

The Barons will take the rest of the calendar year off before returning to the hardwood on January 6, 2016 against Pitt-Greensburg. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. inside the Finnegan Fieldhouse.