Franciscan 71, Allegheny 84

Franciscan Starters
Sawyer Butler, Josh Zimmerman, Travis Zimmerman, Malachi Rose-Burton, Nicholas Allienello 

How It Happened 
    The Barons faced the Allegheny Gators at home tonight and were looking to cement their playoff standings in the PAC. Instead, the Gators first half offense caught the Barons off-guard and now they're right in the middle of a 4-way battle for 5th and 6th place in the PAC.
    The Gators boast the most prolific scorer in the PAC. Stopping him is always a teams priority #1. Every team that has held Barker under 15 points has walked away with a win. Today the Barons held him to 14. However, finding consistency to guard Perry when he had the ball was a problem all game. The Gators starting five all finished with double digit points. Barker had the fewest of the bunch at 14.
    The Gators were red hot early and the Barons turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. That led to a very early 20 point deficit. The Barons finished the first half and continued in the second half. They clawed their way back playing disciplined ball and brought the lead back to within 10. They had stifled the Gators top scorers and the Gators had gone cold from behind the arc. That couldn't last the whole half. Eventually and untimely, the Gators shooters knocked down a couple threes to hold the lead.   

Inside the Numbers 
-Butler's 22 points is his 12th game scoring 20+ this season
-Malachi's 13 is a career high for him
-Karl Yonkeu had a game-high 9 rebounds

Up Next 
Franciscan will have a week between games now, as they do not return to action until February 15th at Westminster. The Barons beat the Titans 88-87 in Steubenville with Josh Zimmerman making a game-winning layup in the final seconds. The Titans have been eliminated from PAC Tournament contention, but they look to finish the season strong with their remaining games. 

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