It didn't take long for Franklin men's basketball to set the tone on Wednesday night.

The Grizzlies opened the game with an 11-0 run and held the lead throughout, earning a 73-57 HCAC victory over Mount St. Joseph at the Spurlock Center.

"I was really proud of how they handled this week," Griz coach Chris Hamilton said of his team. "Probably our best shootaround that we've had all season; the guys have been really supportive of each other, spending a lot of time together on and off the court, and I think the preparation combined with the cohesiveness showed tonight."

Franklin (5-4, 2-2) got stops on its first seven defensive possessions while dominating the lane at the other end. Cooper Matthews and Avery Saunders scored in the paint to start things off, and the lead grew to 9-0 after Matthews hit another layup and Rohan Pearson converted a putback of a missed foul shot. A short jumper by Jesse Faires with 14:56 left in the first half concluded the early blitz.

MSJ knocked down four consecutive 3-pointers at one point to get as close as 18-16, but Justin Harrington stopped the bleeding with a 3 of his own and another deep ball from Pearson re-established a double-digit cushion, 33-23, with 3:23 on the clock. The Grizzlies led at the break, 37-25.

Matthews opened the second half by hitting two shots, the first of them from long range, to give Franklin a 17-point lead. The Lions used an 8-0 run to cut it to 42-33, but they were unable to get any closer. The Grizzlies kept the visitors at arm's length down the stretch, maintaining a lead of at least a dozen points over the final 10-plus minutes.

The Griz were led by 24 points from Matthews, who went 11 of 12 from the foul line. Harrington was 4 of 6 from behind the arc en route to a 19-point effort off the bench, while Pearson posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Franklin forced just seven turnovers but enjoyed a 43-27 advantage on the glass, grabbing 14 offensive boards.

Following a break for the holidays, Franklin will travel to Nashville, Tennessee for the Music City Classic. The Griz will face Regis on Dec. 29 and Oswego State the following day.