STEUBENVILLE, OH - Hilbert leads big for most of this one as the Barons never quit and lose by two on a late run.

The Basics
Scores: Franciscan 68  - Hilbert 70 
Records: Franciscan (2-5 , 1-2 AMCC) - Hilbert (8-1 , 4-0 AMCC) 
Location: Kuzma Court - Steubenville, OH

How it Happened

• The Hilbert Hawks came out firing on all cylinders as their full court pressure would cause eight turnovers in the first eight plus minutes as the Hawks would open the game up on a 19-2 run. With 11:15 left in the half the Barons were down 17, but they would slowly claw back into this one. Sean Hickey would hit a three the next time down the floor, and Matt Trent converted two free throws. The Hawks would keep up the strong play as Lazar Jovanovich would hit a three and layup in back to back possessions to put the Barons in their largest hole at 26-7 with 8:15 remaining. The Barons would make a run of their own as they would go on a 14-0 run over the next three minutes. Christian Commenge would add a layup followed up by a Joe Schriner layup. John Noce would then add a strong add one to cut the margin to 12. Schriner would add two more strong driving layups, and Justin Mack added a trey to cut the lead to five at 26-21 with 5:24 to play. The Hawks would go on a 6-0 run to stretch the lead back to 11, but Schriner would a strong and one finish at the rim to head to the half down 32-24.
• Hilbert would stat out strong again. Jacob Braniecki started out hot, by hitting his first three shots on a 6-0 run to stretch the lead back up to 14. Hickey would respond for the Barons by hitting a pair of free throws and a three. With that three point field goal, Sean Hickey became the all-time leader in three point field goals made with 133, passing Keoni Sablan. Hilbert would expand the lead back up to 17 with 14:21 left as Alex Karamanos hit a driving layup. Over the next seven minutes the Barons would make a run, thanks in large part to some younger guys in Juston Mack, Gabriel Roach and Josh Zimmerman. They brought it on both ends, causing four turnovers over this stretch, and they forced Hilbert into many contested looks. Roach added a pair of layups and Zimmerman added one in their strong minutes. Joe Schriner hit an elbow jumper to set the score at 55-49 with 7:15 left. The Hawks would respond and stretch the lead back up to 12 with three minutes left. It was looking mighty grim for the Barons, the Hawks would even hold an 11 point lead with 1:22 left in this one. Justin Mack would hit a three, and then John Noce would steal the inbound and add a layup to cut the lead to six. Mack would hit another three to cut it to three, but the Hawks would hold on as the Barons could couldn't karol a missed free throw to possibly send it to overtime.

Inside The Box Score

• Four Hawks and Four Barons scored in double figures tonight.
• Joe Schriner had eight rebounds to lead the Barons.
• The Barons shot 80% from the free throw line (16 for 20)

Quotes from Coach Wallace

"We came out extremely flat to start the game, and that was very disappointing. We were careless with the basketball and lacked energy and focus. To start the game 19-2 is a complete lack of everything, and it's my job to have the team better prepared. We actually showed a lot of grit at that point to cut the lead to eight at the half. The problem is we gave up too many offensive rebounds and second chance points to win against a good team."

"The huge positives are we didn't give up and actually had a chance to tie or win the game down the stretch. We have to be mentally tougher going forward or we will continue to drop games. We have to turn the page, but eventually you run out of pages. It's time for certain guys to step up."

Up Next
The Barons are off till next Saturday, as they have finals this week. They will travel to Pitt.-Bradford and tip at 2pm.