STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan men's basketball team fought until the very last second but were narrowly edged out by Pitt.-Bradford, 79-71 Saturday afternoon.

The Barons shot a season-best 56.3% (27-for-48) from the floor and were an outstanding 53.8% (7-for-13) from beyond the arc.

The Panthers opened the game on a 6-0 run until freshman Matt Trent came into the game and immediately hit a jumper with 16:29 to play to get the Barons on the board. After the two teams traded free throws, freshman Joe Schriner hit a deep three-pointer thanks to an assist from classmate Michael Mendicino to get the Barons within one, 7-6. Sahlil Harris made on jumper on the other end of the floor to kick off a 11-4 run that pushed the Panther lead to eight, 18-10 with 10:59 to play.

Pitt.-Bradford kept a steady lead over the next six and a half minutes until Christian Perkins made a layup to push the Panther lead to 10, 31-21. Mendicino and senior Derrick David hit back to back threes on the next two Baron possessions and junior Garrison Holmes made both free throws to get the Barons within two, 31-29. The Panthers and Barons traded baskets before Trent pulled down a defensive board and hit a jumper on the other end to tie the game, 33-33, with 59 seconds left in the half. A pair of free throws and an Even Greening layup gave UPB a four-point lead, 37-33, but Holmes made a jumper with 14 seconds left to cut the deficit to two, 37-35, going into halftime.

Greening opened the second half with a layup but junior Keoni Sablan and Holmes answered with back-to-back layups of their own to tie the game at 39-39 but that would be the closest the Barons would come to the Panthers as they slowly built a 10-point lead over the next 13 minutes, 70-60, thanks to a Manny Welch three-pointer.

Franciscan didn't back down, however, and trimmed the lead to seven thanks to an Aaron Foldi layup with 55 seconds to play. Welch answered with a pair of free throws but Mendicino hit a three with 32 seconds to play to get the Barons to within six, 77-71. Despite their best effort, the Barons couldn't get closer and UPB hit a pair of free throws to close out the game 79-71.

"This team has nothing to be ashamed of tonight," remarked head coach Joe Wallace following the game. "They should keep their heads high. They were fighters out there today and great things are coming to this place very soon. I am extremely proud of this team!"

Sablan led all players with 26 points while Holmes and Mendicino chipped in 12 each. Trent led with eight rebounds and freshman Josh York and Holmes each pulled down five.

The Barons kick off a two-game road trip with an 8pm tipoff against Penn State Altoona on Wednesday.