Franciscan 63, Westminster 67

Franciscan Starters
Josh Zimmerman, Nicholas Allienello, Derrick Derrow, Karl Yonkeu, Sawyer Butler 

How It Happened 
    The PAC standings are a log jam of teams in the middle. Only one win separated 4th place from 9th place. Last night the Barons had a big opportunity to get a PAC win and push into the top 6 of the PAC standings. The defensive minded Barons came out a little sluggish on the offensive end early in the first half, but the lineup of Butler, Bellisimo, Allienello, Yann Yonkeu, and Derrow had a late first half push that put the Barons up 5 going into the half. The defense had successfully held the Titans to under 30 points in the half. Anytime you can hold a team to under 60 points in a game you have a high chance of winning the game.
    During the mid-way point of the second half the Titans had completed a run that ate up the Barons halftime lead and put them in an eight point deficit. Some great defense late including Butler tying his program record 6 steals in a game inched the Barons closer. With four minutes remaining Butler hit a jumper to put the Barons to within two, but every time the Barons made a push the Titans hit a big shot to answer. The big play shots from the Titans staved off the Barons and held the deficit to two possessions. Westminsters' Leone converted his free throws in the waning seconds and the Barons fell to 2-5 in the conference

Inside the Numbers 
-Butler's 6 steal game ties his program record and he now leads the PAC in steals
-Only three Barons scored in the double digits
-Zimmerman and Yonkeu each had game-high 8 rebounds
-The Barons shot a season high 25 threes, but only converted 20%

Up Next 
Franciscan will now have three non-conference games to end the month of December with the next two being at home. On Tuesday, they will host Penn State New Kensington at 7:00 p.m. The Barons are 3-1 all-time against the Lions with wins in each of the last two seasons. It will be on year ago to the day, that they played each other last, as the Barons won 67-63 on December 19, 2022. Travis Lien scored 21 points to lead the way, as the Barons scored 34 of their points in the paint in the victory. This season the Lions are 6-3, but have lost their last two games. They will be coming into this one fresh, as they will have been off from competition for 10 days. 

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