FRANKLIN – For the second time this season, Franklin College forward Jessie Morgan played a vital role in helping the Griz men's basketball team claim a win over Defiance College.
 
Morgan paced the Grizzlies (10-9, 8-4 HCAC) with a team-high 21 points, the second time this year the Fort Wayne, Ind.-native went for more than 20 points against the Yellow Jackets (1-17, 0-12 HCAC) as Franklin held on for an 80-68 win.
 
How it Happened
Franklin grabbed control of the game midway through the first half with a 12-1 run that turned a one-score game into a 22-11 Franklin lead with 11 minutes to go before the break. The Grizzlies' lead would grow to as many as 15 before the break, but the Yellow Jackets refused to go away and cut the lead to 44-37 when the teams broke for halftime.
 
The Grizzlies' lead ballooned back up to as many as 12 in the second half but Defiance continued to hang around and got within four at 60-56 with 10:36 to play. But the rest of the game saw the Grizzlies pound the ball down low to seal the win, with Morgan netting 13 points in the second half and Franklin recording 27 of their 36 second half points in the paint or at the free throw line.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Morgan went 10-for-12 from the floor to pace the Franklin offense. Over two games this year against the Yellow Jackets, Morgan averaged 24.5 points per game and set a career-high with 28 in the teams first meeting earlier in January.
-Ryan Bostic added 15 points, knocking down a game-high five triples.
-Franklin's offense shot 53.6% (30-for-56) from the floor and knocked down 10 threes on the day.
-Lynn King had a team-high nine rebounds and handed out five assists.
-Franklin finished with a decisive edge in points in the paint (40-26) and bench points (31-7).
-Malachi Archey led the Griz bench with nine points, followed by eight from both Jack Hendricks and LeBron Bennie-Powell.
 
Up Next
The Grizzlies continue a three-game homestand on Wednesday (Jan. 31) night, hosting the Mount St. Joseph Lions at 7:30 p.m.