BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Franklin College men's basketball team played their first game in the month of March in 14 years on Friday (Mar. 4) night, taking on the Illinois Wesleyan Titans in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships.

Senior forward Matt Krause led the way with 18 points and nine boards for the Grizzlies (14-15), but the host Titans (22-5) pulled away with a late first half run that proved to be more than enough cushion in a 73-55 Illinois Wesleyan win.

How it Happened
An 8-0 Franklin run midway through the first half gave the Grizzlies a 12-11 lead with a put-back layup from Krause capping the run and giving Franklin their first lead of the night. A pair of Lynn King free throws followed by a Ryan Wiggins triple spotted the Grizzlies a 17-16 lead with 8:23 to go in the opening half.

The Titans would put some space between the teams with an 11-3 run before a three from Carter Crowe cut the deficit to 27-23 with 5:42 to go in the half. But the rest of the period was all Titans as they closed out the opening 20 with a 13-3 run to take a 40-26 advantage into the locker room.

The Grizzlies kept battling in an effort to slice into the deficit, but the nationally-ranked Titans would lead by at least 15 the rest of the night.

Inside the Box Score
-Playing in his final career game in the blue and gold, lead the Grizzlies in both scoring and rebounding while playing nearly 37 minutes.
-Crowe and Wiggins narrowly missed out on double digit outings, finishing with eight points each.
-The Grizzlies shot 37.3% (19-for-51) from the field, knocking down 12 threes and all five of their free throws.