Franciscan 86, St. Vincent 66

Franciscan Starters 
Sean Hickey, Travis Lien, Benjamin Klement, Josh Zimmerman, Aidan Hickey  

Saint Vincent Starters 
Jones, Jennings, Bosco, Martinez, Fields

How It Happened 
    The Barons started a win streak tonight taking down the Bearcats 86-66. The Barons seemed to have found the recipe for success; setting the tempo with their press and getting off to quick early starts. Saturday the Barons started up 21-9, and today they replicated that going up early 24-11. The early run was capped off with a steal from Josh Zimmerman who took it to the other end for a dunk. Josh flexed at his dad, sitting in the stands just behind the bucket, after the dunk as a way to salute. His dad, the fans, and the team were all out of their seats screaming. This proved to be the back-breaking play. The Barons were up 13, and St. Vincent would never get the lead to less than 9 after that. Coach Wallace was proud with all aspects of his team's play going into halftime, save one Bearcat player that managed 15 in the first half. It was a great team effort. Going into halftime, Barons led 49-32; Josh Zimmerman had 10 points, Sean Hickey had 8 points, and Tristan McDannell had 9 points. 
    There is always a concern after a dominating first half performance, that your team will slack off and coast to the end. Coach knew that the Bearcats were extremely athletic basketball players, that if given the opportunity could put up quick easy points. Coach gathered his players just before the buzzer went off, and made sure everyone was focused and was ready to come out the second half the same way they started the first half. The Barons extended their lead to 24 points in the first five minutes of the game, mostly of guys coming off the bench like Colton Hage. Hage shot 5-10 from the field, scoring 12 points in only 18 minutes of play. It's 5 minutes remaining in the game. Everyone knows what's about to happen, and fans are chanting for it. Enter "the Closers"; Nicholas Byerly, Joseph Ciola, Alan Wood, Garrett Lancaster, and Anthony Camastro. The Closers ran the offense to perfection, driving and kicking, reversing the ball off multiple passes, and putting up good shots. Second only to Zimmerman's dunk in the first half, Alan Wood spotted up on the weak side wing and knocked down a three off a reversal. The bench was ready to clear, and the fans were jumping and screaming. Alan's three point shot was his first field goal in his career and a great moment to remember. 

Inside the Numbers 
-the Barons had 6 players in double figures
-Josh Zimmerman led the game with 4 steals
-Sean Hickey led the team in assists with 5.
-Nicholas Allienello led the game in rebounds with 9.
-the Barons force 17 turnovers and converted 22 points off of them.

Up Next
Franciscan hits the road on Wednesday night, as they travel to Washington & Jefferson. This will be the second matchup of the season against the Presidents, as the Presidents got the better of the Barons in the earlier matchup by a score of 67-91. Sean Hickey was tge leading scorer for the Barons with 29 points, but Franciscan struggled from deep, as they were 6-30 from behind the arc. Nick Gearhart had 28 points to lead the Presidents, and Kyran Mitchell added 26 points.

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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