GREENCASTLE, Ind. - The Franklin men's basketball team claimed their first win of the year in dramatic fashion on Tuesday (Nov. 15) night, fighting back for a thrilling 63-62 win over the DePauw Tigers.

Down by nine at the half, the Grizzlies (1-2) rode a huge run to open the second half and shot the ball extremely well in the second half to hand the Tigers (2-1) their first loss of the year. Carter Crowe had a team-high 19 points, knocking down the go-ahead three-pointer with less than a minute to play to help head coach Chris Hamilton earn the first win of his head coaching career. 

How it Happened
DePauw netted the first five points of the game but Franklin battled back to take their first lead of the night at 10-9 with 14:04 to go in the half on a Cody Samples three. DePauw stormed back with a 12-3 run and took a 37-28 lead into the locker room after holding the Griz to 34.4% (11-for-32) from the field in the opening 20 minutes. 

The halftime break came at just the right time for Franklin, as they opened the second half with an 11-0 run and held the Tigers without a point for the first eight minutes of the second half. Samples knocked down a triple with 3:23 to play to make it 60-54 Franklin, but the hosts ripped off eight straight points to re-take the lead 62-60 with 1:11 to go. 

Coming out of a timeout, on the floor, Crowe stepped up and buried his third triple of the night with 30 seconds to play to give the Grizzlies the lead for good. The Tigers had two looks at the winning basket, but each of their possessions in the final 30 seconds came up empty. 

Inside the Box Score
-Franklin shot 42.4% (25-for-59) from the field, knocking down 14-of-27 second half field goals to spark the comeback. 
-Crowe went 8-for-12 from the field for a season-high point total.
-Ryan Bostic notched his first double digit point night with 10 points off the bench.
-Rebounds were 36-28 in DePauw's favor with Logan Hudgins topping Franklin with eight boards. 
-Hudgins and Samples tied for the team lead with four assists each.
-Franklin has now won back-to-back games in Neal Fieldhouse with the most recent coming back in 2019. Prior to that 2019 win, Franklin hadn't won at DePauw since 1997.

Up Next
The Grizzlies make their home debut on Thursday (Nov. 17) night, welcoming the Wilmington Quakers to the Spurlock Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.