Franciscan 53, Washington & Jefferson 80

Franciscan Starters
Josh Zimmerman, Joseph Ciola, Colton Hage, Nicholas Allienello, Garrett Lancaster

Washington & Jefferson Starters 
Seidl, Mitchell, Gearhart, Bigley, Langston

How It Happened 
    The Barons traveled to Washington, Pa. to face the 1st place Presidents of Washington & Jefferson. The Barons were down yet another guy, so they turned to their senior captain Garrett Lancaster. With Lancaster on the floor, the Barons had little issues breaking the Presidents' press and forcing tough shots on defense. The Barons tied the game at 15 with 9:30 remaining in the first half. It was hard for coach to take Lancaster and Josh Zimmerman off the court today. Each time those two were off the floor the Presidents' lead extended a little more. At the end of the first half the Barons were down 12.
    The game got real chippy in the second half. There were multiple technical fouls and double fouls called. The Barons tried to use their toughness to be physical with the Presidents' and hope they break. It worked for the first 10 minutes. They brought a 22 point lead down to 15, but a handful of turnovers and some three's from W&J and the Barons found themselves down 20 again. That lead was maintained for the remainder of the game and the Barons fall to 2-14 in the conference.

Inside the Numbers 
-Frank Bellissimo led the Barons in scoring with 16
-Colton led the Barons in rebounding with 5
-The Barons had only 2 second chance points
-The Presidents' scored 30 points off the 25 Baron turnovers

Up Next 
    Franciscan returns home to take on local rival Bethany at Finnegan Fieldhouse on Wednesday at 8 pm. The Barons have beat the Bison in their last three meetings, including a 12 point victory earlier this season. In that win, Travis Lien led the way with 28 points and 14 rebounds. The Bison have started to find their stride in the second half of the season, as they have picked up a couple of wins in the last couple of weeks. 

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