BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Franklin men's basketball team opened a three-game road trip on Saturday (Jan. 6) afternoon, staging a last-minute comeback to earn an 82-78 win over the Bluffton Beavers. 

Franklin (6-7, 4-2 HCAC) trailed the Beavers (4-9, 0-6 HCAC) for 35 minutes of game time, but the score at the end proved to be all that mattered as Franklin took the lead for good in the final 30 seconds of play to earn their second straight win. 

Down by as many as many as seven in the first half, Franklin rallied to tie the game at 39 at halftime and when the Beavers held a game-high eight-point lead in the second half, the Grizzlies fought their way back to tie the game at 78 with 1:14 to go after Cody Samples earned three points the old-fashioned way. Franklin held the Beavers without a point for the final 1:34 of play and four Cooper Matthews free throws in the final 21 seconds proved to be the difference. 

Samples and Malachi Archey each had 14 points to tie for the team lead in scoring and they were joined in double figures with 13 points from Braden Flanagan and 11 from Ryan Bostic. Arched led the team with seven rebounds and the freshman duo of Matthews and Jesse Faires came through in the clutch off the bench, with each netting eight points. 

Franklin is back on the road on Wednesday (Jan. 10) night, traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio for a meeting with the Mount St. Joseph Lions. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.