LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Franklin men's basketball team hit the road on Wednesday (Dec. 6) night for a conference road matchup with the Transylvania Pioneers.
 
Down by as many as 21 points, the Grizzlies (3-5, 1-1 HCAC) clawed all the way back into the game but their comeback bid fell just one point short as the Pioneers (4-2, 2-0 HCAC) held on to win 78-77.
 
How it Happened
The Pioneers shook off an early deficit with an 11-0 run that flipped the game to a 16-7 Transy lead. The Pioneers held their largest lead of the day late in the first half at 42-21 but Franklin closed the gap just a little bit before the half and headed to the break trailing 50-33.
 
Franklin rode a lights-out shooting effort to get all the way back in the game and the Griz took the lead back with a Lynn King jumper that made it 65-64 with 5:15 to play. Two free throws from LeBron Bennie-Powell with 3:27 to go put Franklin on top 69-68, but it was the last lead of the night for the Grizzlies as the Pioneers rattled off a 9-2 run over the next two minutes stretched the lead to 77-71, putting the game just out of reach.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Franklin knocked down 50% (26-for-52) of their shot attempts, going 6-for-14 from three and 19-for-25 from the line.
-The Grizzlies hit 58.3% (14-for-24) of their second half field goals and held the Pioneers to just 30% (9-for-30) shooting over the final 20 minutes.
-Lynn King topped the Grizzlies with 21 points and five assists and tied for the team lead with nine rebounds.
-Ryan Bostic added 18 points, knocking down a team-high four triples.
-Jessie Morgan finished just shy of his second double-double with 12 points and nine board.
 
Up Next
Franklin is back at home on Saturday (Dec. 9) afternoon, hosting the Earlham Quakers at 3:00 p.m.