Men's Basketball | 1/9/2026 4:15:00 PM

Game #13
Franciscan (10-2 | 2-1 PAC) vs. Grove City (4-8 | 1-2 PAC) 
Saturday, Jan. 10th | 3:00 p.m.
Grove City College Arena | Grove City, PA  

Live Stats | Watch | 2025-26 Roster | 2025-26 Statistics

The Latest
- The Barons secured their fifth straight win and improved to 2-1 in conference play with an 85-72 win over Saint Vincent
- With their 10-2 record, the Barons have had their best start to a season since 1965-66. They were able to go 11-2 that season en route to a 17-win season.
- The Barons sit in a tie for first place in the PAC South and have the best overall record in the conference
- Against Saint Vincent, Sawyer Butler led the way with 38 points
- He has averaged 32.8 points per game in his last five games
- The Barons will face perennial rival Grove City on Saturday for the only time this season due to the Wolverines now being part of the PAC North

Look Around the League

Scouting the Wolverines
- Grove City comes into this matchup 4-8, with a 1-2 conference record
- The Wolverines rank 11th in the PAC in points per game, but they allow the least points per game of any team
- They have a tall, lanky roster, leading to them being first in the conference in rebounds and allowing the least opponent rebounds
- A matchup against Grove City almost always results in a slow, low-scoring, physical battle
- Senior guard Mike Christenson is second in the PAC in scoring at 18.5 points per game, trailing Sawyer Butler

Matchup History
- The Barons are 6-14 against the Wolverines all-time, with two of those Baron wins coming prior to the Division III era
- Between 2007 and 2019, the Wolverines won eight straight matchups
- In the last two seasons, the teams have split the games 2-2
- The Barons won the last matchup 78-66
- Sawyer Butler led the way with 33 points
- In the 2023-24 season, Butler again led with 30 points and 8 steals in a 78-77 win
- Nicholas Allienello proved to be the hero of that game, scoring a career-high 20 points and hitting the game-winning three as time expired in 

Hot Start
- The Barons are second in the PAC in scoring at 84.0 points per game
- They have shot over 50% from the floor as a team in each of their last three games.
- The current record for points per game in a season is 84.9, owned by the 2021-22 Barons
- The 2024-25 team currently owns the program's single-season wins record of 15, and this year's team still has 13 regular-season games and potentially playoffs remaining

Big Time Butler
- Sawyer Butler has scored 20+ points in 29 games so far in his collegiate career. He has scored 30+ points seven times.
- He became the second Baron to eclipse 40 points in a game, joining Sean Hickey '22, who did it in the 2020-21 season
- He sits 9th with 1,186 points on the all-time scoring ranks that go back to 1947. He trails John Blanda '60 with 1,195 points for 8th place.
- Butler broke the program record for most free throws made by a Baron. He sits at 346 makes while shooting 84.4% for his career.
- His 150 steals are the third most by a Baron all-time. Sean Hickey is second with 158, and Josh Zimmerman holds the record with 259. His 3.27 steals per game this season are the 7th most in NCAA Division III and lead the PAC.
- His 28.3 points per game would be the highest ever single-season average by a Baron, and he is currently leading all of Division III in scoring.
- He is second among all three levels of NCAA in scoring, trailing only Aiden McDowell of Division II Western Colorado as of the most recent NCAA statistics
- With 122 made three-pointers, he has moved into third all-time, trailing Keoni Sablan '18 with 133

Stay Connected 
Be sure to follow Franciscan University on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of Franciscan Athletics.