Franciscan 87, Westminster 79

Franciscan Starters 
Sawyer Butler, Karl Yonkeu, Zach Oliver, Aiden Townsend, Malachi Rose-Burton

How It Happened 
    On Saturday afternoon, Franciscan hosted Westminster, the #1 seed in the PAC North, in front of a packed house in Finnegan Fieldhouse. Coach Joe Wallace has had his struggles over the years against Westminster Head Coach Dave Richards. Richards had been the head man at Chatham, where he had beaten the Barons in their last seven meetings, but today Wallace and the Barons were able to beat Westminster for the fourth consecutive time.

    The first half was back-and-forth, with Westminster mostly controlling the action. The Barons shot just 37.8% from the floor in the opening half, compared to 55.2% for the Titans. Sawyer Butler led the Barons with eight points in the first 20 minutes, but he shot just 3-13 from the floor. The officials were letting both teams play with just six fouls called on each team with a lot of contact being allowed. That all resulted in the Barons trailing by six points at halftime.
    
    By the second media timeout in the second half, the Barons had regained the lead and did not look back. Zach Oliver led the way for the Barons with 20 points in the second half. Franciscan shot 63.0% from the floor in the second half, including 71.4% on three-point field goals. The Barons had 11 steals and scored 33 points on fastbreaks, as they had all the momentum and the crowd behind them. They led by as many as 12 points and cruised to an eight-point win over the Titans.

Inside the Numbers 
- Oliver recorded his fourth double double of the season with a career-high 26 points.
- Butler filled up the box score with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
- Covetta scored 13 points on 4-5 shooting in under 12 minutes of play.
- Yonkeu had four assists and three steals.
- Franciscan had 33 fastbreak points.
- Franciscan has beat Westminster four, consecutive times. 

Up Next 
Franciscan hits the road to take on Chatham on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. The Barons are 1-12 all-time against the Cougars, as they look to beat them at their place for the first time in program history. This will be the first of two meetings this season, and they will be two significant matchups in determining playoff seeding in the PAC South Division.

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