FRANKLIN, Ind. – One day after tipping off the 2021 spring campaign, the Franklin men's basketball team welcomed the Hanover Panthers to the Spurlock Center on Sunday (Jan. 10) for the back end of a weekend home-and-home.

The Grizzlies (0-2) had four players finish in double figures but were done in for the second straight day by a late scoring drought that allowed the Panthers (2-0) to take home a 69-62 win.

Early on, it was all Panthers with the guests jumping out to a 9-1 lead and holding Franklin without a field goal for nearly six full minutes to open the game. But Franklin's defense would hold the Panthers' offense in check and the offense answered with an 11-2 run to get within a point at 17-16 with seven minutes to go in the first half.

Neither team would lead by more than five points for the rest of the half, with Franklin taking a 29-28 lead into the intermission after a late surge to end the opening 20 minutes. Buckets were tough to come by for both sides, with Franklin going 10-for-30 in the opening half and Hanover connecting on 12-of-36 attempts.

The start of the second half saw both teams come out of the locker room with the hot hand, with Franklin both teams knocking down five of their first six shots to begin the frame. With nine minutes to go in the game, a layup from senior Danny Goggans gave Franklin their largest lead of the day at 54-49.

But Franklin's offense dried up down the stretch, with Hanover scoring 13 straight points after the Goggans layup to take command of the game. Franklin would only be able to close the gap to as little as five before the final horn.

Leading the Grizzlies in scoring was freshman Tyron Wright, who logged 23 minutes off the bench and went 5-for-9 from the floor with 12 points. Colin York added 11 points off the bench for Franklin with both Matt Krause and Payton Mills chipping in with 10 points each. Sunday marked Mills' second straight double-double to open the year, as he pulled down 10 boards in 34 minutes of action.

The Grizzlies will have a few days off before opening up Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play next Thursday (Jan. 14) in Terre Haute, Ind. against the Rose-Hulman Engineers. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.