Franciscan 94, Bethany 70

Franciscan Starters 
Sean Hickey, Tristan McDannell, Aidan Hickey, Josh Zimmerman, Yann Yonkeu 

Bethany Starters 
Klimchock, White Jr., Uphold, Riggs, Zimmerman

How It Happened 
    The Barons were able to compete in their first game since, their January 6th matchup against Washington & Jefferson, as they took on Bethany Saturday evening. The Barons had over 2 weeks to stew on the loss the first time they faced Bethany. The preparation paid off. Yann Yonkeu started the action early with a block and two big rebounds that led to a fast break layup from Tristan McDannell, and two 3's from Josh Zimmerman and Sean Hickey. The Barons went up 8-3 quick and never surrendered the lead. Bison's Uphold and Riggs made a valiant effort to keep their team in the game with 3pt shots, each connecting three times behind the arc. However, the Baron full court pressure waned on the Bison. With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Barons stopped the Bison four possessions in a row. At 5:43 remaining in the half, Franciscan fans everywhere stook up out of their seats as Travis Lien checked into the game for the first time in two seasons. Travis brought a big burst of energy for his teammates. From there the trio of Josh Zimmerman, Tristan McDannell, and Sean Hickey put up staggering numbers. Each player getting steals, layups, and 3's driving the Baron lead to 16 shortly before halftime.
    In the second half,  the bench picked up the reigns of putting the Bison away. Colton Hage, who led the night with four 3's, hit three of them back-to-back-to-back and extending the Baron lead to its largest of the night at 27. With four minutes remaining, Coach Wallace sent in "the Closers", the crew of Robert Case, Garrett Lancaster, Nicholas Byerly, Alan Wood, and Joe Ciola. "The Closers" put up a point per minute during their stint, while only allowing 2 points from the Bison. Robert Case made a well-timed cut and put away a layup off a great pass from Joseph Ciola. On the break, Garrett Lancaster ripped left past his defender and knocked down the midrange jumper. Nicholas Byerly made a cut to the basket, drifted to the corner and knocked down the 3, but the bucket was taken away by an untimely offensive foul off the ball. The Barons had a complete team effort and walked away with a much-anticipated, well-deserved 24 point win against a budding PAC rivalry Bethany Bison. 

Inside the Numbers 
-The Barons forced 20 turnovers, capitalizing 29 points off the Bison errors.
-Tristan McDannell led the night in scoring with 20 points.
-The Barons shot 47% from behind the arc.
-Sean Hickey scored 17 points, inching him closer to 4th overall in scoring
-Josh Zimmerman led the Barons with 5 assists.
-Aidan Hickey was nearly perfect in play for his 1st career start, he scored 9 points off 4-5 from the field, adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists, while only having 1 PF and 0 turnovers.

Up Next
Franciscan plans to get back into action at home on Monday January 24th at 6:00 p.m. against Thiel. The Tomcats have been scuffling thus far in PAC play, as they are winless through six games. The Barons have never beat the Tomcats in men's basketball though, as they are 0-2 all-time. Last season when they played each other in Steubenville, Thiel won 96-83. Josh Zimmerman led the way for Franciscan in the loss with a near triple-double. He had 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while shooting an efficient 9-14 from the floor. 

Baron Summer Camps
Franciscan University Athletics is partnering with Steubenville Conferences to offer summer sports camps in conjunction with the Steubenville Main Campus 1 (June 9-12th, 2022) and 3 (June 23-26th, 2022). Youth Conferences. Participants will be able to strengthen both their athletic skills and their relationship with Christ in this uniquely Franciscan hybrid experience. Men's and Women's Basketball are just a couple of the sports that will be included, check out more info on our Baron Summer Camps Page.

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