FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Franklin men's basketball team picked up their first league win of the year on Saturday (Dec. 7) afternoon, earning a hard-fought 65-52 win over the visiting Bluffton Beavers in their return to the Spurlock Center.

The Grizzlies (4-4, 1-1 HCAC) led by as many as 18 points in the first half thanks to red-hot shooting performance in the opening 20. The second half saw points tough to come by for both teams and despite a lengthy scoring drought, Franklin's defense kept the Beavers at bay long enough for the offense to find its footing down the stretch.

"We played as close to a perfect half of basketball in the first," Head coach Kerry Prather said. "We got good looks and shot the ball well all over the floor. In the second half, we struggled with knocking down shots, but we leaned on our defense and our rebounding against a team that plays as hard as anyone. We gutted this one out and it feels great to get the first league win."

The Grizzlies knocked down each of their first three shots, setting an early tone offensively. Down by two with 13 minutes to go in the half, the Grizzlies found their groove at both ends of the floor and what resulted was a 17-2 run that made it 30-17 with six minutes left in the first half. A Payton Mills layup with four minutes to play gave Franklin their biggest lead of the night at 38-20 and the hosts would head into the break holding a 42-29 lead.

Each of Franklin's first two shots that opened the second half went down, but the Grizzlies would face a 10-minute stretch where they didn't register a field goal. That drought allowed the Beavers to trim the lead from double digits down to two at 46-44 before a Matt Krause jumper broke the spell.

That bucket rejuvenated the Franklin offense and sparked a 9-0 run that extended the lead back to double figures. The Grizzlies' defense was especially stingy down the stretch, limiting the Beavers to 4-for-11 shooting after the visitors cut the deficit to two.

Krause led the Grizzlies with 16 points, going 6-for-12 from the floor with three triples. Mills recorded his third double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds while swatting a career-high five shots. Borden Kennedy chipped in with 13 points and Sam Gutierrez added 10 points.

The Grizzlies wrap up the first portion of conference play next Saturday (Dec. 14), when they host the Earlham Quakers. Tip-off from the Spurlock Center is tentatively set for 4:00 p.m.