FRANKLIN, Ind. – Playing in front of their home fans for the final time this season, the Franklin men's basketball team laid claim to their first conference regular season championship since 2007 with an 87-75 win over Defiance on Saturday (Feb. 22) afternoon.

The Grizzlies (17-8, 13-5 HCAC) had five players finish in double figures and led for all but 1:44 of play on route to sweeping the season series with the Yellow Jackets (11-14, 6-12 HCAC). Franklin also clinched a first-round bye in next week's conference tournament, earning a share of the league's regular season title with Transylvania.

Trailing by a point early in the game, the Grizzlies assumed control of the lead for good with a 12-2 run that made it a 22-13 game with 8:38 to go in the half. Back-to-back threes later in the period from Sam Gutierrez stretched the lead to double figures, and Franklin would take a 40-26 lead into the intermission.

A large part of the credit for the 14-point halftime lead was due to the team's tenacity on the offensive glass. Franklin out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets 21-9 in the opening 20 minutes, grabbing 12 offensive boards that turned into 12 second chance points.

Desperate to get back in the game, the Yellow Jackets made a push to get back within seven early in the second half, but their burst was slowed when Matt Krause buried a three to stretch the lead back to ten at 51-41 with 14 minutes to play. Franklin's lead remained in double figures until the 6:22 mark, when a Marell Jordan layup capped an 11-2 run to bring Defiance within striking distance at 69-65.

But once again, the visitor's push was snuffed out when Borden Kennedy buried a critical three on the very next possession. Kennedy was responsible for the final six points of the game, with all coming at the free throw line to cap a game-high 20-point afternoon.

Gutierrez added 19 points for Franklin, knocking down a dagger three late in the ball game to put the contest out of reach. Payton Mills (16 pts), Krause (14 pts) and Kale Morris (11 pts) also finished the evening with double-digit totals. Franklin shot 50% (33-for-66) from the floor, burying eight three-pointers and going 13-for-16 from the line.

Mills and Krause tied for the game-high with nine boards each, as Franklin finished with a 38-27 edge on the glass. Before the game, the fans and program honored seniors Kennedy, Morris, Jordan Anderson and Kyle Meyer, all of whom took to the Spurlock Center floor for the final time.

Franklin will enter the 2020 HCAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will face off against the winner of the meeting between No. 3 Hanover and No. 6 Rose-Hulman next Saturday (Feb. 29) night in Lexington, Ky. Tip-off for the game is set for 7:00 p.m.