STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—Franciscan University men's basketball team said goodbye to their seniors and their playoff hopes in a heartbreaking, but well-fought 71-57 Senior Night loss to Medaille College.

The Barons began the night on par with the Mavericks, but midway through the first half things took a turn for the worse as Medaille capitalized on several green and gold turnovers and the Baron offense struggled to retaliate.

"To play a team like Medaille, you have to play very, very prudently in terms of our decision making, and that's what hurt us tonight," head coach John Lamanna said.

Seven turnovers and a 28.6 shooting percentage in contrast with the Maverick's 51.9 field goal percentage put the Barons down by 13 at the half.

Despite the deficit, the Barons played an aggressive second half, limiting Medaille to 30.4 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc.

"I was extremely pleased with our second half defense, but when we're trying to battle out of that kind of a hole it puts so much pressure on everything that we have to do," head coach John Lamanna said. "Every play is so much more valuable, so much more important."

With fourteen minutes left in the game, the Barons came close to narrowing the gap when senior guard Moses Sullivan hit a 3-point shot to bring the score within six. Two more minutes later, however, Medaille added two layups and sunk four free throws to go back up by eleven.

As the clock wound down, the Barons continued to fight, working the offense to create several post opportunities which resulted in six free throws for Sullivan. In spite of the team's best efforts in the final moments of the game, a 15 percent average from beyond the arc ultimately made it impossible to mount a comeback.

While the loss was a disappointment, the effort of senior captain Sullivan was not. The guard went for a double-double, scoring a team high 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

"I mean, you can't ask for more production from him," Lamanna said. "We still have two games with him, but after that he will be desperately missed."

The senior, as one of two returning players from last season, has been a bulwark for the team both on and off the court. Not only has he led the team in scoring the past two years, but he has also helped draw together a team of mostly freshmen into a cohesive unit.

"He's left such a strong legacy that the rest of the program is going to feel for years upon years, and we're extremely indebted and grateful to him," Lamanna said.

Lamanna added that senior guard Joe Spears will also be greatly missed. As a junior, Spears missed the 2013-14 season while studying abroad, he played for the Barons the two years before.

"Joe is the only player left that was in the program in our inaugural season at the NCAA level," Lamanna said. "He's seen the program from where we started to where it is today and he's been a part of that growth and the growing pains. We appreciate all the sacrifices that he's made for the team and the program as a whole."

The team honored Sullivan and Spears at a ceremony before the game but will get to play two more conference games as a team before saying goodbye permanently.

Those games will be the Baron's last as the loss puts them out of playoff contention in the AMCC. Now, with playoff chances gone, Lamanna said the team must focus to make the most of these final games and set the stage for next season.

"These last two games with the end being definite, our character is really going to show through," Lamanna said. "The question is 'what type of character do we really want to possess?'"

The coach added that the team has to pick one of two choices: to improve and compete in light of the bigger purpose, or bail and go through the motions.

"This is where we'll see if we really stand for what we talk about on a daily basis," Lamanna said. "Are we truly embracing Francis' charism of ongoing conversion or are we just making worldly decisions, making the end result most important when in fact it's not, it's the process."

The Barons will face La Roche College for the last home game of the season on Wednesday, February 18 at 8pm.

"We don't interject faith into basketball, we interject basketball into our faith lives," Lamanna concluded. "This is a chance for us to really show that through our actions, not just our words, and I'm very excited to see how that transpires."