Franklin men's basketball faced a tall enough task Wednesday night against a Wabash team boasting plenty of firepower. The Little Giants didn't need any help.

Some self-inflicted wounds early helped make an already difficult situation worse, and the Grizzlies fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 92-74 loss at the Spurlock Center.

"You can't beat the best team on your schedule if you're busy beating yourself," Griz coach Chris Hamilton said. "No one enjoys learning that lesson, but we certainly contributed to our demise."

Three technical fouls in the first half — including a second on LeBron Bennie-Powell that led to his ejection — steepened what had already been an uphill climb, letting Wabash take an early 20-10 lead and stretch it out to 36-19 during the middle portion of the half. The margin grew as large as 22 before Franklin went into the break down 49-30.

Cooper Matthews scored the first basket of the second half, but the Little Giants scored the next eight to build the lead up to 25 with 18:13 left. The visitors went ahead by as many as 34 points, 76-42, before the Grizzlies made a late surge over the final five minutes to make the final deficit a bit smaller.

Though Franklin seldom helped its own cause on Wednesday, Hamilton was quick to tip his hat to the winning squad as well.

"Give credit to Wabash," he said. "That's one of the best offensive teams in the country, and they showed it tonight."

Justin Harrington led the Grizzlies in defeat with 24 points off the bench, continuing his early-season hot streak. Matthews finished with 12 points and Rohan Pearson, making his first collegiate start, added 10.

Franklin returns to action on Saturday at DePauw.