Waynesburg 75, Franciscan 67
Franciscan Starters
Justin Mack, Tristan McDannell, Sean Hickey, Nicholas Allienello, Josh Zimmerman
Waynesburg Starters
Popeck, Knotts, Felberg, Kirkman, Scheidt
How It Happened
The Barons came into today's contest as a nationally top ranked offensive team, against the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets, a nationally ranked defensive team. The Barons got of to a good start with back to back three's from Nicholas Allienello and Sean Hickey. After a couple minutes, the Barons did a platoon substitution a couple minutes into the game. The new lineup continued the pace, and after a couple midrange jumpers from Aidan Hickey and Colton Hage the Barons had their largest lead of the night of six. The Yellow Jackets capitalized at the free throw line on the numerous Baron fouls. Going into halftime, the score was 24-25 Yellow Jackets.
In the second half, Justin Mack found his shot after being cold for the first half. Mack hit an early three, followed by another three from Nicholas Allienello. This overcame the first half deficit, and the Barons were up three. With less than 10 minutes remaining, the Barons suffered a couple turnovers putting them behind eight. The Barons picked up their pace, and after a steal by Sean Hickey and two fast break opportunities for Justin Mack, the Barons tied it back up. For the next five minutes the game was back and forth with the Yellow Jackets maintaining a couple point lead. The finishing two minutes were an emotional roller coaster for the Barons. The Yellow Jackets corralled a defensive rebound then looked to push it up the court. Sean Hickey grabbed another steal in transition, but Mack was unable to finish the play with a runner deep in the lane. Tristan McDannell grabbed the offensive rebound, but then turned it over. Yellow Jackets' Popeck converted the fast break layup. The next possession Popeck leaked out on the defensive end, and grabbed another easy fast break layup. This one minute series saw the Barons go from being down two with a great look to tie, to being down six and in a fouling situation. The Yellow Jackets hit enough of their free throws to close out the game.
Inside the Numbers
-Sean Hickey led all scorers with 21 points.
-The Barons gathered 12 steals, 4 coming from Sean Hickey
-The Barons had 10 different players record points
-At 1-2 in the Conference, the Barons are in 8th place.
Up Next
Franciscan is set to return to action after finals week, as they will head to Walsh for an exhibition on December 16th. This will be their second exhibition of the year, and first matchup with a Division II school the season.
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