Franciscan 95, Westminster 88

Franciscan Starters 
Sean Hickey, Josh Zimmerman, Aidan Hickey, Benjamin Klement, Yann Yonkeu

Westminster Starters 
Ritter, Ritter, Hutcherson, Leone, James

How It Happened 
    The Barons celebrated a win against the Titans on their annual Kuzma Day. This year was a special year for the Kuzma Day celebrations. Former Baron star, and current Hall of Famer Jim Smith, had his jersey number 41 retired today. Today marked the 20th anniversary of his passing, so his children and their families were in attendance to celebrate and accept gifts. Before the game, Jim's son JP spoke with the team. He gave inspiring words while telling stories of his father speaking on the importance of teammates. JP told the young Baron men that through all of the accolades and achievements, the thing he spoke of the most were his teammates, and how much he loved and respected them. 
     The first contest with the Titans was a close hard fought battle the entire game, that saw a few bad possessions late lead to the Barons losing by 12. Today started just as the January 4th matchup started. Sean Hickey and Josh Zimmerman each had early steals, and Josh added 2 points and a great dump-off pass to Yann Yonkeu helping the Barons keep pace with the Titan shooters. In the previous matchup, Hutcherson's size was difficult for the Barons to overcome. Today the crew of Yann Yonkeu, Nick Allienello, Joseph Ciola, and Travis Lien did a great job holding Hutcherson, who finished just 2-11 shooting for the game. The Barons saw early foul trouble, and after the Titans relaxed into the pace of the game, their shooters built a small lead just before halftime. With four minutes remaining in the first half, the Titans saw their largest lead of the night of nine. The Hickey brother's had different plans for how the Barons were going into the half. Aidan Hickey forced a turnover, stealing the ball from Titan's Leone, just after converting two 3pt shots on back-to-back possessions. His brother Sean Hickey took off down the court after Aidan's steal and quickly converted the fast break with another 3pt shot made. Their efforts cut the Barons' deficit down to three going into the half.
    The first couple Baron possessions in the second half were a little bumpy. However, now out of foul trouble, Josh Zimmerman was back in play and free to wreak havoc. "The Run" that propelled the Barons to the lead, that they would never give up, started on the defensive end. The 4:30 minutes that made up "The Run" saw possessions that ended as follows; three pointer Sean Hickey, steal Aidan Hickey into Sean Hickey made free throws, fast break layup Josh Zimmerman, steal Josh Zimmerman into a layup by Travis Lien, block Colton Hage leading to fast break layup by Josh Zimmerman, block Joseph Ciola into fast break layup by Josh Zimmerman, steal Joseph Ciola into a jumper by Colton Hage. This run saw the Titan's four point lead become a Baron 12 point lead. The Barons didn't sit back with their lead, they continued to pressure and force turnovers. In the waning minutes, good free throw shooting and big time shots from Aidan Hickey and Travis Lien helped hold the Barons lead. With today's win the Barons further cement themselves in 6th place in the conference, and allow them to look forward to the 5th and 4th place teams. 

Inside the Numbers 
-Barons shot 49% from the field
-There were 4 Barons with 15+ points
-Josh Zimmerman, Aidan Hickey, and Sean Hickey each had 3 steals, with a team total of 15
-Travis Lien and Josh Zimmerman led the Barons in rebounding with 8 each
-the Barons had 40 points in the paint compared to Titans 30
-Aidan Hickey was 4-4 from three point territory

Up Next
Franciscan continues their Monday, Wednesday and Saturday schedule of games with a unique test this upcoming week. Their next two matchups are against the same team for the first time in program history. They travel to Geneva Monday night, and then they will host the Golden Tornadoes Wednesday night. Geneva got the better of Franciscan last season, as they won by a score of 129-102. The Barons will have to contain PAC Player of the Year candidate, Lyle Tipton. The junior comes into this series averaging over 25 ppg and over eight rebounds a night.

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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