HAMBURG, NY – The Franciscan men's basketball team set the program's record for wins in a season in the DIII era with its 68-44 win over Hilbert, improving to 8-6 on the year, and junior center Matt Trent (Cleveland, OH/Trinity) became the all-time leader in rebounds after his 17-board performance Saturday afternoon.

"Today is what I've envisioned Franciscan basketball would look like," remarked head coach Joe Wallace. "Swarming defense that eventually cracks our opponents. That is what happened."
 
The road win over Hilbert not only set the program's single-season win record, but it was just the second time the Barons came away as the victors in Hamburg and the third win over the Hawks in program history. The 24-point edge was the largest margin of victory for the Barons in the series against the Hawks.  
 
Trent's record-setting performance was sealed early in the second half as he entered the game needing 10 rebounds to reach 492 for his career. The previous career-rebounding record stood at 491, set by alum Christian Duke (2012-16). Trent finished the first half with eight and pulled down his second 1:47 into the second half for the record while finishing with 17 for the game, pushing his career total to 499. The Cleveland, OH native reached the record in just 51 games as a Baron.

"Congratulations to Matt," said Coach Wallace. "I've never been around a player who has a knack to rebound like him at any level. He's dynamic."
 
The first half was closely contested, though the Barons took the lead early on a Trent jumper just 59 seconds into action, and did not trail for the entire 40 minutes. Sophomore Sean Hickey (North Olmstead, OH/Holy Name) pushed the Baron lead to 10, their largest of the half, with a steal and layup with 15:40 left to play. The Hawks kept battling, however, and chipped away at the Baron lead. Hilbert used a 7-0 run over the next four minutes to get to within three, 13-10, but the home team could not even the score. Franciscan pushed its lead back to seven, 21-14, with 4:39 to play thanks to a free throw from freshman Travis Lien (St. Louis, MO/Kirkwood).
 
The Hawks scored five unanswered points to get to within two, 21-19, with 2:08 to play but a pair of jumpers from junior Joe Schriner (Bluffton, OH/Bluffton) pushed the lead back to six, 25-19. Dre' Turnipseed hit the half's final shot, a jumper in the paint, to send the teams into the locker room with Franciscan ahead, 25-21.
 
After a scoreless 2:05 to open the second, Turnipseed cut the Baron lead back down to two, 25-23, and the two teams continued to battle closely until Hilbert got within one, 37-36, with 10:12 to play.
 
The Barons offense then took over and used a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to take their first double-digit lead since early in the first, 49-38, thanks to a layup from Hickey. After Hilbert got the deficit back to single digits, 49-40, Franciscan scored 18 unanswered points to take its largest lead of the contest, 68-40, with 1:47 left. Hilbert scored the game's final four points as Franciscan won, 68-44.
 
It was a tale of two halves for the Barons as they had 10 turnovers and just two assists in the first but regrouped in the locker room and committed just four turnovers while dishing out 10 assists in the second half.
 
The 44 points is the fewest allowed by the Barons under third-year head coach Joe Wallace.
 
The Barons pulled down a season-best 55 rebounds, led by Trent's 17 – his highest this season. Franciscan shot 43.1% (28-65) from the floor.
 
Trent posted his eighth double-double of the season with 10 points while Hickey led all players with 17 points. Schriner came off the bench for 14 points and seven rebounds. Lien added seven for the Barons to go with two blocks and a rebound.

"Joe was huge in the first half. We struggled to score and he made some big plays," continued Coach Wallace. "Sean made big shots, but he's an underrated defender. He was really good on the ball and did a nice job in gap protection. We are continuing to see huge promise in Travis."

Junior John Noce (Brewster, NY/John F. Kennedy Catholic) posted eight rebounds, five points, and handed out five assists.

"John is the perfect point guard for our system," complimented Coach Wallace. "He's a tough dude. He defends, rebounds, pushes the tempo, and is unselfish. He is the head of our snake."
 
The Barons wrap up their three-game road trip to open 2019 as they head to La Roche on Wednesday for an 8:00 pm AMCC contest.