Franklin men's basketball and host Bluffton spent much of Saturday afternoon's game playing hot potato with the lead.

In the end, the Beavers managed to hold on, sending the Grizzlies home with an 84-74 defeat.

The two teams swapped the lead 19 times on the day and were deadlocked 13 times before a 12-0 Bluffton run that started midway through the second half swung the momentum toward the home team for good.

Griz coach Chris Hamilton lamented his team's disadvantages in the paint and particularly from the foul line, where the Beavers enjoyed a 29-11 scoring advantage.

"Anytime we get outscored by double digits in the paint and 18 at the foul line, we don't deserve to win," he said. 

A 3-pointer from Justin Harrington and a paint bucket from Avery Saunders put the Grizzlies (8-6, 4-3 HCAC) ahead for the final time at 65-64 with 10:30 remaining. The Beavers responded with a dozen straight points, though, and by the time Cooper Matthews ended the Griz drought with a layup at the 5:41 mark, Bluffton had built a double-digit margin that held up the rest of the way.

Harrington scored a game-high 22 points for Franklin, followed by Matthews with 15 and Braylon Russell with 12 points and eight rebounds. The Grizzlies were 11 for 26 from 3-point range, led by five makes from Harrington, but that wasn't enough to counter the Beavers' stronger performance inside.

"What I love about the game if that it's fair," Hamilton said. "It's not always fair to you, but today it was fair. Credit goes to Bluffton."

Franklin concludes a three-game road stretch on Wednesday (Jan. 14) at Transylvania.