Franklin men's basketball gave away a nine-point lead in the first half at Manchester on Wednesday night. When the Grizzlies got up by the same margin in the second half, it didn't buckle again.

Led by a 27-point night from Cooper Matthews, the Griz put together an extended 25-10 run in the middle of the second half and held on down the stretch for an 89-82 road win over the Spartans. It's the fourth straight HCAC win for Franklin (8-5, 4-2) after an 0-2 league start.

"Winning is hard in this league," Griz coach Chris Hamilton said. "Winning on the road requires resilience, grit and a figure-it-out mentality. Our guys showed that over and over again when it was required."

Hamilton's club jumped out to a 30-21 edge in the first before a 25-6 surge by the Spartans flipped the scoreboard and put the Grizzlies in a 10-point hole. Franklin trailed at the break, 46-39.

Still down 64-60 with 10:30 left in the game, the Grizzlies got within one on a Rohan Pearson 3-pointer. Another 3 from Dylan Beverly tied the score at 66-66, and Franklin took the lead for good, 70-68, on a Matthews layup at the 7:41 mark. Back-to-back layups from Avery Saunders stretched the lead to seven, and the Griz advantage maxed out at 81-72 when Pearson fed David Streitmatter for a trey with 3:51 to go.

Manchester staged a late comeback bid, cutting it to 83-82 with 1:25 remaining, but Franklin scored the game's final six points on two Matthews free throws, a Saunders putback and two foul shots from Justin Harrington.

The Grizzlies shot 54.6% (18 of 33) in the second half and 51.6% (32 for 62) overall.

Matthews was 10 of 15 from the field and hit 6 of 8 free throws in the win. Joining him in double figures were Saunders with 16 points, Beverly with 13 and Harrington with 11 — all off the bench. Franklin enjoyed a staggering 51-9 advantage in overall bench points.

Hamilton noted that it was the 10th different starting lineup the team has used this year.

"That's another thing I'm proud of with this group is their willingness to adapt, overcome adversity and compete for 40 minutes," he said.

The Grizzlies continue a three-game road swing at Bluffton on Saturday (Jan. 10).