By Jonah Decker, Athletic Communications Intern

FRANKLIN – The Franklin men's basketball team kept on rolling with their fifth straight win, downing the Transylvania Pioneers on Wednesday (Jan. 15) night in the Spurlock Center.
 
Sophomore guard Cooper Matthews matched the program record for steals in a game with eight on the night, achieving the feat for the first time in 41 years. Franklin (11-4, 7-1 HCAC) never trailed the Pioneers (7-8, 5-3 HCAC) in the game, starting fast and fighting back every comeback attempt to win 77-63.
 
Inside the Box Score
The Grizzlies came out of the gate firing at both end of the floor, ripping off a 14-2 run in the opening 5:08. Tthe Pioneers struck back with a 12-2 run of their, cutting Franklin's lead to 20-16 with 10:18 left in the first half. The two teams spent the rest of the first half trading punches, and the Grizzlies carried a 35-29 advantage into the intermission.
 
Franklin stretched their lead back to double figures early in the second half and led by as many as 14 when a Matthews layup made it 50-36 with 13:19 to play. The Pioneers clawed back to within five at 66-61 with 2:54 to play before back-to-back layups from Matthews and Dylan Beverly ran the lead back to double figures and put the game out of reach.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Matthews matched the program record for steals in a game, with Jay Williams the last to record eight steals in a game back in 1983-84 against IUPUI.
-Franklin shot 50% (29-for-58) on the night and held the Pioneers to 42.1% (24-for-57) on the night.
-Matthews tied for the team lead with 15 points, matching Lynn King's output.
-Malachi Archey added 12 points off the bench.
-King led the Grizzlies with eight boards.
-The Grizzlies outscored the Pioneers 34-14 off turnovers.
-Each team finished the night with 15 offensive boards.
 
Up Next
The Grizzlies hit the road on Saturday (Jan. 18) afternoon for the final game of the first round of conference play. Franklin faces off with Rose-Hulman, with tip-off set for 3:00 p.m.