FRANKLIN – The Franklin men's basketball team tipped off Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play on Saturday (Dec. 2) afternoon, taking on defending conference tournament champion Anderson in the Spurlock Center.
 
Five Grizzlies (3-4, 1-0 HCAC) racked up double-digit point totals and Franklin used 13 three-pointers to down the Ravens (4-2, 0-1 HCAC) by a 77-70 score.
 
How it Happened
Seven straight Franklin points opened the game to give the hosts an early lead but an 18-5 Anderson run flipped the advantage to the road bench and the game saw at 20-14 Ravens with nine minutes played. Franklin dominated the rest of the opening half, catching fire from the floor to take a 44-28 lead into the break.
 
The Grizzlies stretched their lead to 22 when a Jack Hendricks three made it 62-40 with 12 minutes to play. Anderson started to chip away at the Franklin lead, getting the deficit down to seven with 90 second to play. But the Grizzlies came through at the line in closing out a big conference victory.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Ryan Bostic continued his strong start to the year, leading the Grizzlies with 19 points, four assists and three steals.
-Jesse Morgan recorded the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
-Lynn King (15 pts), Jack Hendricks (13 pts) and Braden Flanagan (11 pts) also reached double figures.
-The Grizzlies shot 41.9% from the field and from three, going 26-for-62 from the floor and 13-for-31 from deep.
-Defensively, Franklin limited Anderson to 44.8% (26-for-58) on the day and 7-for-28 from long range.
-Rebounds were 42-32 in the Grizzlies' favor.
 
Up Next
The Grizzlies head out on the road on Wednesday (Dec. 6), heading to Lexington for an HCAC meeting with the Transylvania Pioneers. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.