Game #27 - ECAC Quarterfinal
#8 Franciscan (15-11 | 10-10 PAC) vs. #1 Virginia Wesleyan (19-7 | 12-4 ODAC) 
Saturday, March 8th | 1:00 p.m.
Gill Center | Westminster, Md.

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The Latest
- Franciscan jumped out to an early lead at Washington & Jefferson in the PAC Quarterfinal last Tuesday. The Barons led for most of the first ten minutes of play, but the Presidents chipped away to hold a three point lead at the half. Foul trouble became a problem in the second half, and the Presidents attacked the rim while shooting 53.85% in the second half to pull off the win.

- #1 Chatham went on to win the PAC Championship to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament. Franciscan was the lone PAC school to earn a bid into this season's ECAC Championship Tournament 

Scouting the Marlins
- Virginia Wesleyan ended the season ranked #39 in the NCAA NPI rankings. #37 Gettysburg received the last at-large bid into the NCAA Championship Tournament, and they will face Chatham in the first round. 

- Wesleyan received a high national ranking after holding a 19-7 record through a very tough schedule. In the regular season, they played five Top 25 opponents. They beat #24 Guilford by 19 points on the road, and they lost by just two points to #5 Christopher Newport back in November.

- They have used the same starting five for all 26 games this season. Omari DeVeaux leads all scorers at 13.3 ppg while shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc. Amari Moorer is their leading rebounder at 8.0 rpg while scoring 12.4 ppg at an efficient 51.6% field goal percentage. Both were named Second Team All-ODAC this week as well for their strong play all season.

- They are coached by Dave Macedo, who is in his 25th season at Virginia Wesleyan. He eclipsed 500 wins earlier this season in his career. He has won an NCAA National Championship, as the Marlins did so in 2006, and he has led them to the NCAA Championship Tournament 12 different times, most recently in the 2023-24 season.

ECAC History
- This is the Barons' second trip to the ECAC Tournament. In the 2018-19 season, Franciscan took on Grove City at Grove City in the First Round of the ECAC Championship Tournament. Joe Schriner led the Barons with 17 points, but they had no answer for Grove City's Nate Peters. He scored a career-high 29 points in 20 minutes while coming off the bench. 

All-PAC Honors
- For the fourth time in program history, multiple Barons earned All-Conference honors. 

- Sawyer Butler was named First Team All-PAC, and Josh Zimmerman Earned Honorable Mention All-PAC honors.

- Butler is the first Baron to be named First Team All-Conference since Thomas Kleinshnitz in the 2010-11 season while the Barons were members of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC).

Keep it Close
- The Barons are 5-0 in games decided by three points or less this season. In fact, the Barons have won their last 10 one-possession games dating back to the 2022-23 season. 

He is #1
- Sawyer Butler leads the Barons in scoring this season at 19.2 ppg. A 4.2 ppg bump from his PAC Newcomer of the Year season in 2023-24

- 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.

- With 13 points in the PAC Quarterfinal, Butler sits at 500 points this season. That is the second-most scored by a Baron in a season, as Thomas Kleinshnitz scored 520 in the 2010-11 season.

- His 17.3 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 85.5% from the line this season which is third-best in the PAC. His 230 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 was the only player in the PAC to rank in the Top 12 in rebounding, assists, blocks, and steals this season.

The Rebounding Battle 
- The Barons are second in the PAC with a +3.6 rebounding margin and second in offensive rebounds per game at 14.8, both of which are improvements from last season. The Marlins hold a 4.5 rebounding margin. 

- Travis Zimmerman has been a big part of this improvement. He leads the Barons in rebounding at 7.0 rpg. His 79 offensive rebounds this season are the third most in a season all-time by a Baron.

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

Mr. Zimmerman Tracker 
- Josh Zimmerman enters this game with 1,438 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 348, he is the program's all-time leader in steals with 257, and he recently passed Jim Smith, as the Baron to have played in the most games. He has played in 117 games for Franciscan over the years.

- He sits at 10th all-time in rebounding with 718 over the years. Chuck Zerger '63 sits in 9th with 767 boards for the Barons.

With a Win
- The Barons would take on the winner McDaniel versus Pitt.-Greensburg on Sunday in the ECAC Semifinal. That game is scheduled for Sunday, March 9th at 2:00 p.m. in the Gill Center.

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