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STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan University of Steubenville’s men’s basketball team started its season by earning a split of its games at the Pitt-Bradford Veterans Memorial Tip-Off Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
The Barons faced John Carroll University, a team just outside the D3hoops.com Top 25, on Friday and dropped a 94-78 decision. The Barons played a strong first half, leading by seven at halftime. John Carroll ramped up its pressure in the second half and came back to take the win.
On Saturday, the Barons battled Houghton College and had a solid response to bounce back with an 84-72 victory. The Barons used a 19-3 run to close the first half to pull away and led by as many as 25.
Individually, sophomore Zach Pollaro had an outstanding weekend, scoring 20 points against John Carroll and another 21 against Houghton. Seniors Aiden Townsend and Karl Yonkeu also had solid weekends, filling up the stat sheet on both ends of the floor. Junior Vova Trotsko added 13 points on Saturday. Sawyer Butler battled an illness and played limited minutes on Saturday.
“When putting our schedule together last year, I wanted to find as many challenging non-conference games as we could possibly fit into our schedule. This weekend was a great opportunity to see where we are and what we need to continue to improve,” FUS head coach Joe Wallace said.
The Barons open the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday night when they host Mount Union, who comes to Steubenville 2-0 with a pair of lopsided victories and just outside the top-25.
The opening tip inside the Finnegan Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m.