Franciscan 70, Beloit 68

Franciscan Starters 
Sawyer Butler, Oliver Zach, Rose-Burton Malachi, Karl Yonkeu, Nathan Richards

How It Happened 
    Franciscan Men's Basketball begin their season in Oberlin at their Kickoff Classic. Their first opponent Beloit came out of the gates on a 17-0 run. The Barons stayed vigilant in their press and very slowly picked away at the lead. Their press sped up the Beloit offense which was plagued with sloppy ball movement and a handful of offensive fouls. 
    The Barons went into the half up one on a Butler three pointer, then held even with Beloit for the entire second half. In the last minute, the Barons were up one. There was 27 seconds left on the clock and Butler had just gone 2 for 2 from the line to give the Barons the lead. Beloit came down and drew a foul on Kristian. They hit both of their free throws to go up one with only eight seconds remaining. The Barons ran a quick break up the floor and Butler hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to grab the first win of the season
    
Inside the Numbers 
- Bulter had a double-double with 33 points and 10 rebounds while adding 5 steals
- Oliver was the only other Baron in double digits with 15
- The team's 15 steals was just three shy of the all-time single game record of 18

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Franciscan 106, Adrian 92

Franciscan Starters 
Sawyer Butler, Karl Yonkeu, Zach Oliver, Malachi Rose-Burton, Thomas Kristian

How It Happened 
    in the Oberlin Kickoff Classic championship the Barons faced Adrian. Once again they were plagued by a slow start. Albeit, not as bad as the Beloit start, but found themselves in a 13-2 deficit heading into the first media timeout. 
    If it ain't broke don't fix it though. Once again, they stayed diligent and picked at the lead. They crawled back into the game and found themselves trailing by one possession with four minutes left in the first half. Once again, Butler scored at the end of the half to put the Barons on top for the break. The only part of the story that was not repeated was the Barons coming out swinging in the second half. As coach Granato likes to say, "You gotta win the first five!" That they did, and they kept their foot on the gas till the end with an impressive 106 point scoring affair. Eclipsing the century mark isn't something we've seen since the triple overtime game on 12/21/23, and the first time since the 2021 PAC tournament win against Bethany since we've eclipsed 100 in regulation. This was in large part due to the drastic reduction in turnovers, the significantly higher shooting numbers, and more scoring contributors. This weekend had two great team wins highlighted by a two game performance from Butler. His performances were reminiscent of the great Sean Hickey who was present to watch the player most likely to surpass him and break his records go off. 
    The Barons are red hot with a 2-0 start and we're excited to have them home soon for their home opener next Wednesday
    
Inside the Numbers 
- Yonkeu's 24 points is a career-high 
- Five Barons scored double digit figures
- Butler averaged 34.5 pts, 8.0 rebs, and 3.5 steals for the tournament

Up Next 
Franciscan returns to Steubenville for their home opener on Wednesday night. They will take on Penn State New Kensington at 7:00 p.m. in Finnegan Fieldhouse on the 12th. The Barons are 5-1 all-time against the Lions, including wins in the last five meetings. Last season, the Barons won 88-67. Sawyer Butler led the way with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Travis Zimmerman added 16 points in just 18 minutes of play.

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