Franciscan 83, Penn State Shenango 44
Franciscan Starters
Frank Bellissimo, Sawyer Butler, Aiden Townsend, Travis Zimmerman, Josh Zimmerman
How It Happened
For the feature match of the 1st annual MBC Blue Collar Ball Classic, Franciscan faced Penn State Shenango. The Barons' lights out three point shooting breezed them past the Lions. Frank Bellissimo was a machine launching 14 three pointers on his way to tying the program's single game three point record of seven. That record now has a three-way tie between Bellissimo, the legendary Sean Hickey, and Joe Schriner.
Seven of the Barons first eight made field goals were three pointers quickly putting the Barons in an 18 point lead. That was just six minutes into the game, and that pace just continued through the half. By halftime, the Barons were leading 40-12. The prolific shooting was a spectacle, but my favorite moments by far were the triplet of dunks including the designed back door alley oop dunk from Butler to T. Zimmerman. Zimmerman took off from outside the lane, and I was worried the 40' ceilings might have not been high enough as he floated through the air for the alley oop.
In the second half, the bench players saw extended minutes which loosened the Barons grip. They allowed quick easy points coupled with sloppy ball movement allowing Shenango to tally 32 points in the second half. Thankfully, their abilities to hit shots never ceased. The Barons put up another 43 points in the second half coasting their way to a 39 point victory.
Inside the Numbers
-Josh Zimmerman had a season-high 10 assists
-Frank Bellissimo led all scorers with 25
-For the first time this season, no Baron played over 30 minutes
Up Next
Franciscan returns to action on New Year's Eve when they host Chatham at 2:00 p.m. After a 10-day hiatus, the Barons will take on the Cougars, who rank 1st in the PAC. The Barons are looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Cougars, as they have not beat them since 2022. Chatham is 8-3 this season with a 5-1 PAC record so far, as they last played on Friday the 20th and will resume play on the 31st like the Barons.
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