Best of the Rest

Franciscan beats Christendom, 76-61, and Flanagan gets "Best of the Rest" honors from the man at the AMCC headquarters.

The Barons then fell to the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets with a final score of 84-58.  Just as in the Barons first loss, they were leading at half-time, but the Yellow Jackets, "exploded for 55 points in the second half."  Good news is that for the first time all season we have a box score.

Spot-on Prediction, Blowout

Duuuuuuuuke!  Josh Ducoulombier played out of his mind, 25 points and 19 rebounds are the statistics of a Man.  Yes, the Nittany Lions of New Kensington did not have much height but there must be a "Duke Day" very soon. 

The game started off a little slow with countless fouls and numerous clock stoppages, but the Barons got it rolling shortly thereafter.  Andrew Kay, John Moore and Dan O'Brien all added energy and a spark coming off the bench.  Andrew Kay should have his number changed to 47, I mean the official petition starts now, right here.  John Moore showed flashes of explosiveness that I have not seen the past two years and I think Dan's headband is pure energy.

How about those tickets that were given prior to entry, congratulations Finnegan, you are really stepping it up.  If you did not see the tickets, they were strapped with Flanagan looking like he was about to kick someone's ass, and as usual Number 5 kicked ass and took names adding 15 points.

Easily the most exiting part of the  night was a Matt Liedel Sighting.  Another petition coming soon for the return of "5fer5."  Another exiting development is moving from 10th place in the standings to" a getting close to respectable" 7th place.  AMCC Standings.

Penn State New Kensington has not yet posted an article of their embarrassing defeat, but here is the article from FUS.

Tony "Showtime" Houghton Kicked Our Ass

Our Barons dropped the season-opener 91-74 to Penn State Beaver.  The score does not indicate a close game, but from here and here a different story is told.  Apparently, the Barons jumped out to an 8-0 lead and eventually a 15 point lead.  But by half-time the Nittany Lions trailed only by one point.  Then in second half Tony "Showtime" Houghton put on a clinic and made some key plays to put the Barons to rest.  

Last season the Barons defeated Penn State Beaver 77-75  when FUS won four of their last six game, so it is a shame that we lost.  But I really wasn't expecting our young team to win their first road game this season.

Wednesday marks the home-opener for the Barons, they will open against the Penn State New Kensington Nittany Lions at 8:00 p.m.  The Barons have had mixed results when playing the NK Lions.  FUS has lost 74-61 (2.11.08 away), lost 79-64 (1.31.07 away) and won 63-45 (11.10.06 home) in the past two seasons.  If the trends continue then FUS should blow out the Nittany Lions tomorrow.  But I am not even going to worry about the history, I believe that our FUS Barons will ride the opening night success to a 1-1 record come Wednesday at 11:00. 

Last Place Already?

Now that Franciscan University of Steubenville is right in the middle of all the action in the AMCC, the standings, player of the week and history of the AMCC can be checked out.  Who does these polls and why do they hate us so much?  There is no way Mount Aloysius should be in ahead of our Barons.  Here are the standings 

AMCC Preseason Poll (last season AMCC), (last season overall)

1. Penn State Behrend  (15-3) (24-5)

2. La Roche (10-8) (13-13)

3. Medaille (9-9) (15-13)

4. Penn State Altoona (10-8) (14-13)

5. Frostburg State (8-10) (9-16)

6. Pitt-Bradford (6-12) (10-15)

7. Pitt-Greensburg (10-8) (11-15)

8. Hilbert (8-10) (12-13)

9. Mount Aloysius (1-17) (5-20)

10. Franciscan (6-19)

and here is the site.

Midnight Madness 2008

I really think the basketball team needs a new slogan for this year.  Do they really think they can just throw the same "The Barons are Back" number at us for two years in a row?  I guess if one thinks about it the Barons do keep coming back year after year, but they used it last year and the first half of the season was kind of a wash.  The FUS Sports Marketing Department should sit down for five minutes and just think of a new mantra, or maybe make a new opening video with exiting content and actual highlights.  But on to thoughts of the "game."

For the first two minutes the Barons looked really good, but then I remembered who we were playing.  Before the game started I heard we were playing an actual team, but then I saw the competition warming up.  After about the first five to seven minutes the score was still pretty close and the images of the really good team evaporated.  Granted, the Barons ended up blowing out the makeshift team, I expected more.  But we get the opportunity to see what the Barons are made of on Wednesday November, 19 at 8:00.  Although they have their first test at Penn St. Beaver on Monday November, 17.  

A very warm welcome to our new starting point guard, Sam Titus.  Titus showed off his passing skills and if I remember correctly did not jack up any wild shots. 

I shed tears of joy when I saw Duke on the court, then tears of sorrow when he lost the jump ball.

Duke is listed at 6'5 and Kay at 6'1, very interesting.

Always great to see "The Headband."

Next Game--11/17/08 @Penn St. Beaver  

They lost an exhibition game to Community College of Beaver County 69-74, so maybe the Barons can sneak out a win.