FRANKLIN, Ind. – The regular season came to a close for the Franklin men's basketball team on Saturday (Feb. 20) afternoon when the Grizzlies hosted the Manchester Spartans on senior day.

The Grizzlies (6-6) and Spartans (3-9) struggled for buckets in the opening half but shots started to fall for both sides in the second half. But a late surge from the Spartans proved to be the deciding factor in a 69-61 Manchester win.

Senior Sam Gutierrez led Franklin with 18 points in his final regular season home game and fellow senior Danny Goggans added 12 points for FC. Ismail Jones had five boards and Payton Mills notched a game-high 12 rebounds in the final regular season contest for both senior players.

The Grizzlies opened the game with a 7-2 run but the offense would dry up after a hot start. Franklin would go more than 11 minutes without a field goal but their defense was able to keep the Spartans at bay in the first half. Each side shot no better than 25% from the field as Manchester took a 21-20 lead into the half.

Seven straight Franklin points opened the second half but Manchester would turn to the long ball to keep the Grizzlies from breaking things open. Dominic Walter buried his first career three to make it 36-33 with 12:35 to play but what followed was a 16-3 Manchester run that lasted five minutes and put the Spartans ahead for good.

The Grizzlies would get within five points on a couple different occasions before the final horn, but each time their run would get stifled by a Manchester bucket.

Franklin connected on 36.7% (22-for-60) of their field goals but three-point shooting made the difference as Franklin hit four from deep to nine for the Spartans. Rebounds were 48-31 in Franklin's favor with both Mills and Matt Krause (10 rebs) hitting double digit totals on the boards.

The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) championship will feature all 10 league teams with pairings, dates and start times set to be announced on Sunday (Feb. 21). Stay tuned to franklingrizzlies.com for information on the Grizzlies' next contest.