Franklin men's basketball coach Chris Hamilton was audibly displeased with his team during a late-morning prep session late Saturday morning.

Whatever issues the Grizzlies may have had obviously got cleared up by the afternoon. 

Tight defense fueled an early 15-0 run that helped power the Grizzlies to a season-best 51 points in the first half and an easy 88-58 triumph over Earlham at the Spurlock Center.

With the game deadlocked at 5-5, Franklin (7-5, 3-2 HCAC) held the Quakers scoreless for a stretch of nearly seven minutes while building a double-digit lead that lasted the remainder of the game. Dylan Beverly opened the decisive blitz with a 3-pointer and a putback bucket, and Braylon Russell contributed six of the 15 points to make it 20-5 with 11:51 left in the first half. A Beverly layup with 19 seconds left before the break pushed the lead to 30 points at 51-21.

The previous Griz best for points in a half was the 46 second-half points in a season-opening victory over Olivet. On Saturday, Franklin shot 21 of 31 (67.7%) from the floor in the first half.

Though the Grizzlies cooled off somewhat in the second half, shooting 38.7%, it didn't much matter; the Quakers never got closer than 22.

A dozen different players scored for Franklin, led by Cooper Matthews with 16 points and Justin Harrington with 15. Russell added 12 points off the bench, while Jesse Faires scored nine and Beverly eight. Connor McNabb chipped in six points and a team-leading eight rebounds.

Next up for the Grizzlies is a Wednesday night (Jan. 7) trip to Manchester.