Photo by Linsey Flinn
Grace Murphy
Staff Writer
The Franciscan University men’s basketball team defeated the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets 84-74 at a home game Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Barons began the game fast and aggressive. Within the first six minutes, the Barons made five steals and a block move.
Sophomore guard Josh Zimmerman scored two 3-pointers. Graduate student guard Sean Hickey also scored a 3-pointer.
The Yellow Jackets began to catch up with the Barons. At halftime, the Barons held a slight edge over Waynesburg with a score of 40-34.
The Barons moved into the second half with a strong defense and good momentum to carry the ball up the court and score. Waynesburg trailed closely behind.
Senior forward Travis Lien made a block in the last minute of the game. Zimmerman transformed the block into a fast break layup. This layup put the Barons up by 10 points in the final 20 seconds of the game.
The game ended with the Barons defeating the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets 84-74.
Zimmerman was the highest scoring Baron of the game with 24 points. Hickey followed as the second highest scoring Baron of the day with 22 points.
Coach Joseph Wallace said, “Josh Zimmerman played an outstanding floor game. He was tenacious defensively and played with purpose on the offense. Sean Hickey was also able to exploit a couple mismatches and came up with huge baskets when we needed it.”
Sophomore forward Nicholas Allienello achieved nine rebounds, the most rebounds of the game for the Barons.
Wallace said, “Nick Allienello brought a lot of toughness to the court and rebounded the ball well. Aidan Hickey was superb guarding Waynesburg’s best player and forced him into a lot of contested shots.”
The Barons held Waynesburg to 44% shooting and had 26 bench points, points scored by non-starters, compared to Waynesburg’s seven bench points.
Wallace said, “It was a very nice team victory for us. Our guys did a good job making Waynesburg feel uncomfortable on both sides of the floor with our pace and attack.”
The Barons’ next home game will be against St. Vincent College Monday at 8 p.m. This will be the Barons’ first game against the Bearcats for the 2021-2022 season.