Game #20
Franciscan (15-4 | 7-3 PAC) vs. Washington and Jefferson (14-5 | 7-3 PAC) 
Wednesday, Feb. 4th | 5:30 p.m.  
Salvitti Family Gymnasium | Washington, PA 

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The Latest
- The Barons led nearly buzzer-to-buzzer in their 68-55 win over Hiram on Saturday, improving their win streak to three
- With the win, they tied last year's program record of 15 wins
- Anthony Covetta led with 18 points on 6-9 shooting
- The Barons will travel to Washington and Jefferson with a chance to avenge their overtime loss to the Presidents 
- A win would give them outright control of second place in the PAC South

Look Around the League


Scouting the Presidents
- Washington and Jefferson come into this matchup 14-5, with a 7-3 PAC record
- The Presidents currently hold a tiebreaker over the Barons for second place
- Reigning PAC Defensive Player of the Year Nathan Plotner has been the go-to guy this season 
- He is 10th in the PAC in scoring at 15.2 points per game, sixth in rebounding at 7.0 per game, and first in blocks at 2.9 per game
- Alex Acosta also averages 12.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game
- The Presidents are second in the PAC in field goal percentage, but last in three-point field goal percentage
- They also have the largest turnover margin in the PAC at +6.47

Matchup History
- The Barons are 5-13 all-time against the Presidents
- Since becoming Division III, the Barons are 3-12
- Franciscan's last win came in the 2023-24 season, when they defeated the Presidents 66-61
- Josh Zimmerman '25 led the team with 22 points and nine rebounds in that game
- The two teams faced each other earlier this season, with the Presidents securing an 86-82 overtime victory
- Sawyer Butler had 24 points and eight rebounds, and Anthony Ciola had a career-high 15 points in the loss

Back to Back
- With the win over Hiram, the Barons secured their second consecutive 15+ win season, tying the program record of 15 wins set last year
- This is the first time they have ever won 15 or more games in back-to-back seasons in the Division III era.
- They now have six games remaining still, to break the record for the second straight year

Recipe for Success
- When freshman guard Anthony Covetta scores big, the Barons win games
- In only 15.5 minutes per game, the explosive shooter is third on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game
- He leads the team in three-pointers made with 40, and is shooting at a 40% clip, which is second in the PAC among qualified shooters
- Covetta has scored in double digits in six of the last seven games
- He is 19-35 (54.3%) from the three-point line in that stretch
- In the nine games this season where he has scored double digits, the Barons are 8-1

Big Time Butler
- Sawyer Butler has scored 20+ points in 30 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 with 49 at Juniata, joining Sean Hickey '22, who did it in the 2020-21 season
- He sits 8th with 1,295 points on the all-time scoring ranks that go back to 1947. He trails Dan Rogich '79 with 1,394 points for 7th.
- Butler broke the program record for most free throws made by a Baron. He sits at 386 makes while shooting 83.9% for his career.
- His 23.6 points per game would be the highest ever single-season average by a Baron
- He leads the PAC and is currently top 15 in all of Division III in scoring.
- With 129 made three-pointers, he has moved into third all-time, trailing Keoni Sablan '18 with 133

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