GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 1) -- The Thiel College men's basketball team fell 64-61 to Franciscan University in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action Saturday afternoon on Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium.

The Tomcats drop to 6-13 (5-10) and are now on a four-game losing skid while the Barons rise to 13-7 (8-7) on the season.

Thiel trailed 64-61 with 5 seconds remaining following a pair of Barons' free throws. Mike Brown (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) pushed the ball into the front court and found Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) on the left wing where he got up a well-contested 3-ball with a pair of hands in his face that clanked off the back rim and out, giving the Barons the tight victory. The game was the fourth consecutive in the series decided by 4 points or fewer and the seventh straight won by less than 10 points.

Ellerbee finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 to go with a game-best four assists, a game-high-tying two steals and a pair of rebounds. Ellerbee has logged double-digit point totals in consecutive games and 14-of-19 contest on the year. Brown contributed 12 points on 5-of-11 and 2-of-4 from deep to go with four boards and a duo of steals.

Following a Franciscan layup with 1:19 left that made it 58-55, Ellerbee connected on a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to make it a 1-point game. The visitors answered with a layup on the following possession and Ellerbee followed by connecting on 1-of-2 at the line. After two made free throws from the Barons with 12 seconds left, Gabriel Gonzalez (Merida, Venezuela/Southwest Miami) responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it 62-61 with 9 seconds left. Two Franciscan free throws with 5 seconds showing on the clock spelled the 64-61 final. 

Gonzalez logged a team-best 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 at the charity stripe to go with five boards and a game-best-tying two steals.

A Brown fast-break layup directly following a Franciscan basket knotted things at 54 with 3:45 left. The visitors took back the lead with a layup at the 2:48 mark before Khamari Accursio-Harris (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) split a pair of free throws to make it 56-55 Barons with 1:54 remaining.

Accursio-Harris posted his first career double-double with 13 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds to go with a team-best-tying two blocks and one steal. He tied for the game high with four offensive boards. 

Thiel opened the second half with an 11-4 run in the first 4:07 to pull ahead 39-32. An Ellerbee 3-pointer pushed the lead to 42-34 with 14:13 remaining. The Barons ensued with an extended 16-2 run over 6:22 to lead 50-44 with 7:26 left to play. A Rob Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) layup broke the run and got Thiel within 4 (50-46) with 6:37 showing on the clock.

Thomas pitched in 6 points on 3-of-6, tied for the team high with two blocks and corralled five boards.

Thiel held a 5-point first-half edge (22-17) before Franciscan closed the half on a 13-6 run to lead by one (29-28) at the break.

The Blue and Gold held Sawyer Butler, the PAC's leading scorer, to his third lowest point total (12) of the year and 0-of-7 from deep. As a team, Franciscan went 0-for-12 from beyond the arc. Thiel was 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

The Tomcats shot 42.9 percent (24 of 56) from the field and held the Barons to 39.3 percent (24 of 61) shooting. Franciscan, the leagues worst statistical free-throw shooting team, went 16-of-25 from the stripe while Thiel was 9-of-15.

Men's basketball returns to action Wednesday for a home PAC showdown with last-place Bethany at 7:30 p.m. The Tomcats bested the Bison 83-72 in their first meeting this season on Dec.10.