Franciscan 82, Thiel 75

Franciscan Starters
Josh Zimmerman, Joseph Ciola, Colton Hage, Nicholas Allienello, Aidan Hickey  

Thiel Starters 
Ellerbee, Brown, Lavodrama, Harden, Hooper

How It Happened 
    The Barons gave the home faithful a great show, as they defeated the Thiel Tomcats by a score of 82-75. The Barons saw the return of leading scorer Travis Lien, who has not played in almost a month, but it would Josh Zimmerman leading the way for the Barons with 22 points.

    Franciscan would score the first five points of this and then hold the lead for the entire first half. Joseph Ciola would lead the way with 10 first half points, including a pair of made three pointers. Eight different Barons scored in the opening half to give them a 14 point lead at the half, 41-27.

    The Barons would start the second half off quickly, as they would stretch the lead to 24 points at 56-32 just five minutes into it. The Tomcats would answer though with a 10-0 run to tighten this one back up at 56-42. Josh Zimmerman would spark the Barons back into action, as he would go on to score 14 points in the final 11 minutes. The Tomcats would finally cut it to a ten point game with four minutes to play, but the Barons would get it done by possessing the ball and making free throws down the stretch to secure the sweep for the Barons and take care of business like the women's basketball team did in the game before them.

Inside the Numbers 
- 22 points is a season-high for Zimmerman.
- Colton Hage added 19 points.
- Franciscan went a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
- 82 points is the most scored by Franciscan since their win over Pitt.-Greensburg
- This was the first conference, home sweep of men's and women's basketball games since February 1, 2020 against Penn St. Behrend.

Up Next 
    Franciscan continues their tough PAC slate, as they travel to Washington & Jefferson on Saturday afternoon. The Presidents are the reigning PAC Champs, and have put together another strong season to clinch a birth in the PAC Tournament already. This is a rematch from a game earlier this season that saw the Presidents win by a score of 99-81. Travis Lien scored 18 points and Colton Hage added 17, but after being tied at halftime, the Presidents responded with a big second half to win last time against the Barons. 

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