Game #26 - PAC Quarterfinal
#6 Franciscan (15-10 | 10-10 PAC) vs. #3 Washington & Jefferson (19-6 | 15-5 PAC) 
Tuesday, Feb. 25th | 7:00 p.m.
Salvitti Family Gymnasium | Washington, Pa.

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The Latest
- Franciscan concluded the regular season at home on Saturday, as they fell to Geneva on Senior Day by a score of 57-48. That is the fewest points the Barons have scored in a regular season game since last season against Chatham.

- Sawyer Butler led the Barons with 14 points, and Josh Zimmerman added 10 points. That resulted in the Barons earning the #6 seed in this year's PAC Championship Tournament. 

Scouting the Presidents
- W&J enters the postseason on a three-game winning streak. They beat Allegheny, Waynesburg, and Thiel, three teams that did not make the postseason, to climb up to the #3 seed and earn home-court advantage.

- Nathan Plotner leads the Presidents in scoring and rebounding at 14.5 ppg and 9.9 rpg.

- The Presidents average 80.1 ppg, second-best in the PAC this season. They lead the PAC in team field goal percentage at 47.9%. They are known for their offense, but they are no slouches on defense as well. They lead the PAC in steals per game (11.96) and blocks per game (5.32). Their +7.8 margin of scoring is second-best to Chatham in the PAC this year.

- The Presidents are in search of their 11th PAC Championship in program history. They have recently won the title as well, as this would be their second in the last four seasons if they can win three more games in a row.

History vs. Presidents
- The Barons are 5-11 all-time against the Presidents in a series that dates back to Dwight D. Eisenhower's term.

- Three of those five wins happened in Washington, Pa. The most recent was last season, by a score of 66-61. Josh Zimmerman led the charge for the Barons in that win with 22 points and nine rebounds. They held the Presidents to 32.9% shooting, including 2-18 from beyond the arc.

- This is the first time that these two teams have met in the PAC Tournament.

PAC Tournament History
- The Barons are 2-2 in the PAC Tournament over the years, as this is their third trip to the tournament since the 2020-21 season.

- Franciscan's last win in the tournament came on February 21, 2022, by a score of 108-89 over Bethany. Six Barons scored in double-digits, as they made 14 three-point field goals in this offensive outburst. Sean Hickey led the way with 16 points. The only Barons that are on this year's team that played in that game were Josh Zimmerman and Nicholas Allienello. Zimmerman scored 14 points and dished out seven assists.

- Sean Hickey holds the program record for most points by a Baron in a PAC Playoff game. He scored 41 points at #1 Westminster in the 2020-21 Quarterfinal

- The Barons are in search of their first PAC Championship Title.

He is #1
- Sawyer Butler leads the Barons in scoring this season at 19.5 ppg. At the conclusion of the regular season, that was second-best in the PAC and 75th-best in all of NCAA Division III4

- This season, he has scored 20+ points 14 times, including three of his last five games. He has scored 30+ points twice with a career-high 35 against Waynesburg last week.

- Butler has now scored 487 points this season, the third-most in a season by a Baron in the Division III era. Sean Hickey is second with 489 points in the 2021-22 season, and Thomas Kleinshnitz scored 520 in the 2010-11 season.

- His 17.4 ppg over his career is 5th best by a Baron all-time. Kleinschnitz is the lone Division III era player ahead of him at 17.5 ppg over his two seasons in Steubenville.

- Against Geneva in the regular season finale, he broke the program record for most free throws made in a season. He has shot 86.1% from the line this season which is third-best in the PAC. His 224 makes from the charity stripe is 4th best in program history in the career rankings.

Filling up the Box Score
- The Steubenville native, Josh Zimmerman, has been filling up the box score since he stepped foot on campus. That was exemplified last week when he recorded his second career triple double in the win over Waynesburg. He scored 10 points, had 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, which broke the program game record. He also added five steals for good measure.

- Zimmerman is second in the PAC in steals, third in assists, eighth in blocks, and 12th in rebounding this season on a per game basis. 

The Rebounding Battle
- The Barons are second in the PAC with a +3.6 rebounding margin and second in offensive rebounds per game at 14.9, both of which are improvements from last season.

- Travis Zimmerman has been a big part of this improvement. He leads the Barons in rebounding at 7.0 rpg, 5th best in the PAC this season.

- The Barons have won the rebounding battle in 11 of their 15 wins this season.

Mr. Zimmerman Tracker
- Josh Zimmerman enters this game with 1,431 points, the fifth most by a Baron since they began play in 1947. Jim Garrigan ' 74 ranks 4th all-time with 1,670 points scored. Sean Hickey '21 holds the Franciscan Division III record with 1,692 points, and Paul Brownlee '56 sits atop the all-time rankings with 2,433 points.

- Zimmerman holds three program records. He is top in all-time assists with 346, he is the program's all-time leader in steals with 256, and he recently passed Jim Smith, as the Baron to have played in the most games. He has played in 116 games for Franciscan over the years.

- He sits at 10th all-time in rebounding with 714 over the years. Chuck Zerger '63 sits in 9th with 767 boards for the Barons.

With a Win
- The Barons would travel to #2 Saint Vincent on Thursday evening for a matchup with the Bearcats in the PAC Semifinals

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