Thiel 86, Franciscan 80

Franciscan Starters 
Sean Hickey, Josh Zimmerman, Aidan Hickey, Travis Lien, Yann Yonkeu

Thiel Starters 
Simmons, Aarestrup, Ellerbee, Tejumola, Hooper

How It Happened 
    The Barons had a chance to clinch the 6th seed for tournament play last night, but failed to do so after losing to the Tomcats. In their last meeting, the Tomcats scored at-will in the paint against the Barons. Last night's game plan seemed to be to test the Tomcat shooters. Baron defenders sunk in and protected the paint. The Tomcats' shooters found their mark last night. Both teams needed a win to secure the 6th seed, and the Tomcats' Simmons and Aarestrup had a career shooting night. Each shoot under 30% from 3pt on the year, but last night each put up 3-5 from 3pt by halftime. The Barons turned up their pressure in the second half, and the Tomcats reverted to their shooting averages. However, the 11pt deficit at halftime was just beyond the reach of the Barons to overcome. Colton Hage was a large part of the second half comeback. He had a career night, scoring season high 20 pionts. Due to foul trouble from the Baron big men, Joseph Ciola was called upon to play double his season average minutes. With under 2 minutes remaining, Travis Lien hit a fast break 3-pointer off a Josh Zimmerman pass to bring the Barons to within 2 points. The ensuing defensive possession Colton Hage and Josh Zimmerman pressured the Tomcat ball handler, forcing him to lose control of the ball and turn it over. Josh Zimmerman and Sean Hickey ran the floor with a 2-2 full court break. Sean drew the defender and dumped the ball off to Josh near the rim. The Tomcat defender was able to make an athletic play, to turn and contest Josh's layup attempt. With a chance to tie the game, Josh missed the layup. The Tomcats transitioned down the floor, but chose to pull the ball out and hold it to eat time off the clock. Tomcats Ellerbee attempted a pullup jumper at the free throw line. Josh Zimmerman blocked the shot. With the ball loose on the floor, Tomcats' Ellerbee dove in front of Joseph Ciola who was attempting to pick up the loose ball. Ciola was tripped and fell on top of Ellerbee. Unfortunately, the officials missed the first actions of the play, and only saw Ciola falling onto a Tomcat player. Ciola was called for a foul, and Ellerbee went to the free throw line and converted both free throws. With only 30 seconds remaining on the clock and Tomcat free throw shooters making all their free throws, the 4 point deficit was too much to overcome in such short time. With the loss, the Barons fall to 7th place and the Tomcats moved into 6th. The Barons will need to win Satruday versus Chatham, and hope Thiel loses to St. Vincent, to retake their place as the 6-seed.

Inside the Numbers 
-Colton Hage had a career high 20 points
-Sean Hickey's 14 points brings him to 40 points away from 3rd All-Time in scoring.
-The Barons were out rebounded 53-33
-The Barons shot the ball 50% from 3pt
-The Tomcats shot season high's in 3pt made (11), and 3pt percentage (55%)

Up Next
Franciscan returns home for Senior Day on Saturday against Chatham. We will be honoring two players this year - Sean Hickey,and Justin Mack. Both have had a special impact on the program and will be greatly missed. As far as the action on the floor, the Barons will be hosting Chatham who was able to beat Franciscan by nearly thirty points on Monday. The Cougars have looked like the best team in the conference all season, but this will be their final test in preparation for the PAC Tournament which begins on Monday. 

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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