Franciscan 81, Geneva 71

Franciscan Starters
Josh Zimmerman, Travis Lien, Colton Hage, Nicholas Allienello, Benjamin Klement  

Geneva Starters 
Tipton, Tipton, Rachic, Rachic, Massie

How It Happened 
    While in the middle of three away games, the Franciscan Barons lost to the Geneva Golden Tornadoes 71-81. Both teams fought back and forth, with either side never leading by more than 7 points. In the final minutes, the Barons weren't able to keep up, allowing Geneva to pull away with the win.
    Franciscan wasted no time to put points on the board, with Benjamin Klement landing a shot in the paint. Colton Hage followed soon after, knocking down two midrange jumpers. While the Barons had no problem scoring, the Golden Tornadoes proved difficult to stop. This made it hard for Franciscan to pull away with any sizable lead. Still, the offense was relentless, with Travis Lien and Josh Zimmerman both attacking the paint. 9 minutes into the game, and the score was tied 21-21. Geneva took advantage of a Baron scoring drought to score 6 unanswered points. Franciscan responded with a 7-0 run of their own to take a 1 point lead. Travis Lien showed off his range by draining a transition 3, and following a layup by Frank Bellissimo, the first half ended in a standstill 33-33.
Josh Zimmerman scored the first bucket of the second half with a fastbreak bucket. Benjamin Klement continued his efficient play, knocking down a three and a free throw. Still, despite the Baron's offensive success, Geneva responded point for point. Travis Lien, who scored a career-high 30 points against Grove City, came to the rescue with an and-1. Josh Zimmerman was the primary engine of the offense, scoring the Baron's next 6 points. Still, the lead constantly switched, and with 5 minutes left in the game, the score was tied at 65. From now on, every bucket and defensive stop could decide the victor. Unfortunately, the Barons struggled to get any points, while the Golden Tornadoes slowly made a lead for themselves. With 2 minutes left, Travis Lien scored in the paint, cutting the Baron deficit to just 4 points. Unfortunately, Franciscan was unable to stop Geneva from knocking down a three to increase their lead to 7. The team was unable to recover after that. The final score resulted in a Baron loss 71-81.
    Travis Lien stuffed the stat sheet, leading the team in points, rebounds, and assists. The 6'6 forward continues to prove himself as a serious 2-way threat. Colton Hage played well on both ends, chipping in 17, going 3-3 from downtown, along with 4 steals. Josh Zimmerman wasn't far behind, contributing 15 points on an efficient 5-10 shooting. The Barons minimized their turnovers while forcing Geneva to make mistakes, finishing with only 13 turnovers compared to Geneva's 22. One major weakness Franciscan had was second chance points. Geneva was able to clean up their misses to land easy buckets, scoring 24 second chance points while Franciscan had 2. Despite the tough loss, the Barons fixed many problems that have been plaguing them all season long. Now that the offense is in a rhythm, the team needs to put more energy on the defensive end. Looking ahead, the Barons will finish their road trip with a match against Thiel College on December 6.

Inside the Numbers 
-Travis Lien led the Barons in scoring with another 20+ point game
-The Barons had a +9 turnover ratio forcing 22 turnovers from Geneva
-The Barons had only 2 second chance points on the night off 3 offensive rebounds
-3 different scorers had 15+ points; Lien, Hage, and Zimmerman
-The two freshmen Malachi Rose-Burton and Frank Bellissimo had 20+ minutes

Up Next
The Barons will remain on the road to take on Thiel on Tuesday. The Barons will also be in search of their first win in school history against the Tomcats. Last season they fell in a pair of conference matchups with each being close hard-fought games. The Tomcats sit in the middle of the conference at the moment, as they have beat Waynesburg and Bethany already this season.

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