NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Franklin College men's basketball team faced off with the Manchester Spartans on Saturday (Dec. 11) afternoon, putting their unbeaten road record on the line in a pivotal conference matchup.

The Grizzlies (5-2, 2-1 HCAC) had four players finish the game in double figures and used a late push to down the Spartans (2-7, 1-2 HCAC) 76-65 and move to 5-0 in contests away from home.

How it Happened
Franklin turned to the long ball to take an early 9-0 lead, with Matt Krause, Ryan Wiggins and Ty Wright all knocking downs early triples. Franklin's lead grew to as many as 11 in the opening half before a furious Manchester rally late in the opening period cut into Franklin's lead and made it 33-28 at the break.

The Spartans stayed in an offensive rhythm coming out of the break, taking their first lead of the day at the 15:54 mark with a three that made it 38-37. Manchester held their largest lead of the day at 47-41 with 12 minutes to play, but the Grizzlies would dig in and fight back shortly after with a 15-2 run capped by a three from Wiggins at the 7:52 mark.

Franklin had a counter for each Manchester comeback attempt before closing out the game at the free throw line in the final seconds.

Inside the Box Score
-Wright topped all Grizzlies with 20 points, going 8-for-13 from the field with three triples. With the sophomore forward on the floor, Franklin was a plus-23 in scoring margin.
-Wiggins set a new career high with 18 points, connecting on 8-of-13 field goals.
-Krause added 14 points with four three-pointers and Cody Samples had a career-high 12 points, all coming on a perfect 12-for-12 performance at the free throw line. Samples also led the team with four assists.
-Carter Crowe reached double digits in rebounds for the first time in his career, pulling down a game-high 11 boards. Franklin finished the game with a 41-34 edge in the rebounding battle.
-Freshman Reggie McDonald made his first career start on Saturday, finishing with four points, six rebounds and three assists in almost 26 minutes of action.
-Freshman Trey Flatt played a season-high 23:42 in a reserve role. 

Up Next
The Grizzlies step out of conference play for each of their next three games, the first coming next Friday (Dec. 17) night at home against Berea College. Tip-off from the Spurlock Center is set for 5:00 p.m.