BUFFALO, NY – The Franciscan men's basketball team dropped an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest to Medaille, 74-61, Saturday afternoon.

The Barons slip to 5-5 on the year and 1-3 in the AMCC while Medaille improved to 3-5 on the year and 2-1 in the conference.

"These past 3 games we haven't been ourselves. We haven't played with the swagger and toughness that has been our staple," remarked head coach Joe Wallace. "We believe in this group. This is just a small bump in the road."

The Barons got on the board first with a three late in the shot clock from senior Juwan Perkins (Detroit, MI/Oak Park). The Mavericks then used a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 13-3 lead midway through the first. Sophomore Sean Hickey (North Olmstead, OH/Holy Name) briefly halted the Medaille run with a jumper thanks to an assist from junior John Noce (Brewster, NY/John F. Kennedy Catholic) to cut the lead back to eight, 13-5. The Mavericks pushed their lead back to 10 with 12:09 to play and maintained the double-digit lead until the 6:27 mark when junior Matt Trent (Cleveland, OH/Trinity) hit a jumper to get the Barons back to within eight, 23-15. With 1:16 to play in the first, Hickey hit a three after a steal from Noce to cut the lead to seven, 31-24, but the Mavericks answered with a pair of free throws and a layup at the buzzer to take a 35-24 lead into halftime.

After a scoreless 1:23 to open the second, junior Josh York (Russia, OH/Russia Local) made a layup after grabbing the offensive board from Hickey's missed three to cut the lead down to nine, 35-26. The Mavericks then used a 28-11 run over the next eight minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 63-35, with 10:20 to play. The Barons chipped away at the lead and got it to 17, 71-54, with 2:47 to play thanks to a layup from freshman Justin Mack (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard). Sophomore Nate Nowicki then hit a three with 36 seconds left to trim the lead to 13 but the Mavs answered with a three of their own. Sophomore Jonathan Sigler finished the game with a layup after cleaning up the offensive glass to bring the score to its final, 75-61 in favor of Medaille.

Trent led the Barons with 10 points and seven rebounds while Hickey chipped in nine points and four boards. Noce dished out four assists to go with his four points and four rebounds. Mack came off the bench for nine points and four rebounds while freshman Travis Lien added four points, a block, a steal, three rebounds and an assist.

The Barons will have this week off from competition as they take their fall semester finals and will return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 15 when they host Pitt.-Bradford at 4pm.

"This upcoming week is much needed," commented Coach Wallace. "We need to get back to being us and what got us to this point."