BUFFALO, NY - The Franciscan men's basketball team dropped its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament opening round game on Medaille, 85-74, Wednesday evening. 

"Tough ending, but I'm happy and proud," remarked head coach Joe Wallace. "I love these guys. I love our moments together. I love their toughness. I love their swagger. I love our assistant coaches. I love being the coach at Franciscan. I'm blessed. 

"We ran into a hot shooting team tonight. They had us on the ropes and we clawed back in. The scrap and urgency was there."

After a 13-1 run in the middle of the second half for Medaille that was highlighted by three three-pointers from Brandon Roach, the Barons found themselves down 19 with 12:19 to play, 57-38. A layup from sophomore Sean Hickey (North Olmstead, OH/Holy Name) halted the Maverick run and kicked off a 12-3 run for the Barons, punctuated by a three from junior Joe Schriner to get Franciscan to within 10, 60-50, with 9:09 to play. 

Medaille hit a pair of free throws before Hickey scored the next five points for the Barons to get them back to within seven, 62-55, with 7:35 left. After the Mavericks and Barons traded successful trips to the free throw line, including two from junior Matt Trent (Cleveland, OH/Trinity), junior John Noce (Brewster, NY/John F. Kennedy Catholic) got the Barons to within five with a pair of free throws himself, 64-59. Roach pushed the Maverick lead back to eight, 67-59, with another three and after two free throws from freshman Justin Mack (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) the Barons stayed within striking distance.

Two more Maverick free throws and a jumper from Roach gave the host's a 71-61 lead with 4:!1 left. Junior Joe Schriner (Bluffton, OH/Bluffton) trimmed the lead back to eight, 71-63, with another jumper and Noce made both of his free throws to cut the lead to six, 71-65. The back and forth battle continued until Medaille pushed its lead back to 11, 78-67, with 1:47 left. Junior Josh York (Russia, OH/Russia Local) grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up to cut the deficit back to single digits but four more free throws for the Mavericks gave them a 13-point lead with under a minute to play. After a Schriner free throw, Noce drew a foul as he drove to the basket with 39 seconds left and hit both of his free throws. Schriner forced a turnover under the basket as the Mavericks tried to inbound the ball but Franciscan couldn't capitlize on the extra possession. 

Roach pushed the Maverick lead to 13, 85-72, with eight seconds left but Trent closed out the game with a layup at the buzzer to close out the game, 85-74 in favor of the Mavericks. 

The Barons were led by Noce with a season-best 20 points while Trent chipped in 13. York finished the game it has an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. Hickey was the fourth Baron in double figures with 10. Schriner added nine points and a team-best four assists. 

"Matt and Sean had big seasons and they should be rewarded with post season accolades," commented Coach Wallace. "They've work hard and have become 2 of the better players in AMCC."

Franciscan is now 13-13 on the year and will await a chance to play in the ECAC tournament.

"The foundation of our program really starts with Joe Schriner, John Noce, and Josh York," said Coach Wallace. "I love guys who bring it everyday. If people could see how hard they practice you would be amazed. That's how we've won this year. They have sprung the change. Those guys bodies are banged and bruised. I wouldn't pick anyone else in our league to fight with."