Franciscan 78, Grove City 66

Franciscan Starters
Sawyer Butler, Josh Zimmerman, Travis Zimmerman, Nicholas Allienello, and Aiden Townsend

How It Happened 
    Yesterday was Kuzma Day 2025. Every year late in January, the Barons celebrate the great late coach Hank Kuzma's impact in Franciscan athletics. Inside Finnegan Fieldhouse, you see large black metal lettering overhanging the doors welcoming you as you enter the aptly named Kuzma Court. Even though the court, was redone after the flood in 2022, the original Kuzma court design inspired and approved by coach Kuzma's wife and family still remains on either side. Overlooking the court is the oversized banner celebrating the pinnacle of coach Kuzma's coaching career, the 1958 National Champions banner. A remarkable standard and reminder of the rich history and prestige of the Baron Basketball program.
    This year the highly anticipated Grove City Wolverine rivalry fell on Kuzma Day. The Wolverines coach has been at the helm for 30 years. He has developed a system and is known for his stubbornness in the "Flex" offense. The Wolverines trade any advantage of surprise for game-time reads. Coach Wallace has also developed a system for how he defends the flex actions. Neither coach is ever surprised with what they see on gameday, thus this game is always a chess match of small victories and wrinkles with reaction and counter plays. 
    The Barons started this game leaning into their length and physicality. Top scorer, Butler, was paired with both Zimmerman's, Allienello, and Townsend. Butler is a lengthy and athletic shooting guard and beside him were four more players with length and no one under 6'4". They attacked the Wolverine offense driving the, as the coaching staff refers, "redcoats" farther and farther from the basket. The Wolverines were relegated to relying on their very prolific shooters to shoot their way out of the choking defense. The physicality of the Barons and the energy in the atmosphere caused these "shooters" to stumble and chuck bricks all game long. The Wolverines only made four 3's all game and shot an abysmal 17% in the second half. 
    The first half was back and forth with multiple lead changes and below average shooting from the Barons led way to a 10 point deficit. The aforementioned physicality never let up, and eventually in the second half it wore the Wolverines down; also, 50% shooting really helps. The high percentage shooting came from good offensive execution coupled with a star performance from Sawyer Butler. When the Wolverine defense began to settle in and stifle offensive movement, Butler stepped up and created his own opportunities, decimating the defenses morale. Constant physicality across the board is something you have to see in person, but it shows up in the team rebounding statistics. The Wolverines are perennial rebounding leaders in the PAC, yet the Barons were the ones cleaning up on the glass out-rebounding the Wolverines by eight. This effort was highlighted by Travis Zimmerman's 13 rebounds including 9 offensive. To put that in perspective, he is second in the PAC in OReb/game at 3.7 and the NCAA Div III leader in ORebs averages 7.4. Travis' average now puts him 20th in the country in offensive rebounding for the year. Consistency in physicality, rebounding, and play-making crushed the Wolverines in the second half. The Barons outscored them 51-29 en route to their 6th conference win.
    Just one game under .500 in PAC play, the Barons are sole owners of 6th place. Having already played three of the five teams ahead of them twice, the hardest part of their schedule is over. All that remains is to finish the remainder of their season atleast .500 to hang on to their 6th position and possibly move up. Grove City sits in third, so defeating them and preventing the Wolverines from having a tiebreaker advantage means there is a hope and off-chance that the Barons could host a first round PAC playoff game. 
*My apologies to coach Wallace for mentioning playoff what-iffs*
    
Inside the Numbers 
-Bulter's scoring average moves up 18.4/game sitting a point and a half behind 1st in the PAC
-Travis Zimmerman's double-double is his third of the season including back-to-back double-double performances
-Josh Zimmerman's game-high 6 steals puts him first in the PAC with 57 this season

Up Next 
Franciscan remains at home to take on Bethany on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Finnegan Fieldhouse. The Barons took down the Bison 69-67 on December 4th at their place, as they look for a similar result at home. Sawyer Butler scored a team-high 16 points in that victory with Aiden Townsend and Travis Zimmerman adding 15 points apiece. Bethany will be well rested, as they did not play on Saturday and will have one week between contests when they come to Steubenville on Wednesday.

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