Franciscan 85, Saint Vincent 75

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

Saint Vincent Starters 
Jones, Yagoub, Etyuk, Fields, Martinez

How It Happened 
    The Barons had a fast start, led by the Hickey brothers. After four minutes of play, the Barons amassed an 11 point lead off a 13-2 start. Sean Hickey converted 11 of the Barons 13 points during that stretch. While his brother Aidan, added 2 steals in the Barons full court press. The Bearcats found the stride on offense, and capitalized while the Barons had their starters on the bench. Fields and Millien led the attack, and clawed the Bearcats back to a tie game. The Bearcats zone gave the Barons offense difficulty as they took time adjusting to their offensive concepts. Thankfully, the defense was doing a great job limiting Bearcat possessions by forcing turnovers. The Bearcats were shooting 67% from 3pt and 57% overall from the field. Had the defense not been in-sync the deficit going into the half could have been much larger. At halftime, the Barons were down three 36-33, in what was one of the lowest scoring halves for the Barons this season. 
    The halftime adjustments took some time sinking in for the Barons. This was coupled with the Bearcats' Millien converting every shot he threw up regardless of the tight, disciplined defense the Barons threw at him. Eventually, the Bearcats broke to the Barons pressure. The entire team, led by Josh Zimmerman, contributed to the run. Josh Zimmerman got into the paint at-will, and either found open teammates or converted himself. Aidan Hickey added a couple more steals and 4 points. Nicholas Allienello found the bottom of the net on two 3pt attempts. Travis Lien's length and speed were to much in transition, and he added 4 points during this stretch. These late game efforts brought a 20 point lead with 6 minutes left in regulation. Enter "The Closers" led by Robert Case. The line of Robert Case, Nicholas Byerly, Alan Wood, Joseph Ciola, and Garrett Lancaster, initially had difficulties on the defensive end, allowing the Bearcats to score on 6 of their 7 possessions. This shrunk the Baron lead to 10 with over a minute remaining. Coach Wallace stood firm in his faith in "The Closers", and left them in to do their job. Robert Case was strong with the ball, and handled the Bearcat pressure. Nicholas Byerly used his length and IQ to cut through the defense and create open looks for his teammates. The Bearcats attempted to press full court, but with a 10 point deficit and only 11 seconds remaining, it was too little too late. 

Inside the Numbers 
-Sean Hickey scored 30 points, that's two games in a row with 30+ points. Sean is now 70 points behind 3rd All-time in scoring. 
-12 Barons contributed 10+ minutes
-Josh Zimmerman was dangerously close to a triple-double with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists
-The Barons had 10 turnovers for the game
-The Barons defense allowed only 39% shooting in the second half

Up Next
Franciscan will have one day to prepare for the top team in the league, as they travel to Chatham on Monday night. Chatham is an impressive 18-2 this season with an undefeated non-conference record. They are beatable in conference play, as Grove City and Geneva were able to take them down. Franciscan is searching their first win all-time against Chatham, as they are 0-4 all-time. Last year the Barons fell 82-94 at home. Malik Potter led all scorers with 22 points while Sean Hickey added 20 of his own, but the Cougars would prevail. 

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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