#6 Franciscan 62, #3 Washington & Jefferson 73

Franciscan Starters
Sawyer Butler, Josh Zimmerman, Aiden Townsend, Karl Yonkeu, and Travis Zimmerman

How It Happened 
    The Barons placed 6th in the PAC, their highest finish since joining in 2020, and went on the road to face the #3 W&J Presidents in the PAC quarterfinals. 
    The match up between these two teams is always an interesting one. When the Barons joined the PAC, coach Wallace implemented a drive n' kick offense coupled with a full court man press for the full game. The very next year W&J adopted coach Wallace's press and have stuck with it the last three years. Its a beautiful game of punch and counter punch. The Barons upperclassman are very familiar with running the press themselves. The 40 minute game becomes a collection of mini-games with adjustments, wrinkles, and reactions to the other teams changes. Overall, the best way to beat a press is to stay aggressive, attack, and punish the defenders for over extending. When a team presses, inevitably they are going to get steals and easy transition opportunities, but the key is to limit those moments and get your own easy chances, because they are so stretched out. Teams that play conservative against the press never get the easy chances and make continuing to press risk free. 
    Early on, the Barons dissected the press and it was absolutely brutal to watch...if you were a Presidents' fan. They took a seven point lead midway through the first half. W&J made some changes, and started getting some success from their press. That coupled with a dry spell from the Barons offense flipped the fortunes, and the Presidents took a three point lead at the half.
    The second half was a one possession back-and-forth game until the 8 minute mark. Some of the key Baron players were in foul trouble and struggled to generate rhythm on the offensive end. The lack of scoring saw the Presidents' lead slowly rise to a three possession lead. The Barons made a small run late, but were forced to go into foul mode, and the Presidents converted the free throws preventing any Baron comeback. 

Inside the Numbers 
-Butler and Townsend led the Barons in scoring with 13 a piece
-No Baron had more than 5 rebounds
-The Barons shot a good 44% from the field for the game, but allowed 53% shooting in the second half from the Presidents

Up Next
The Barons will have to wait until Monday to see if they have earned a bid into the ECAC Championship Tournament. First and Second Round matchups are scheduled for March 8th and 9th.

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