With its largest crowd of the season on hand on Saturday afternoon, Franklin men's basketball put on a show.

Junior Cooper Matthews flirted with a triple-double and the Grizzlies kept rival Hanover at arm's length for most of the second half to earn an 82-72 Senior Day victory at the Spurlock Center.

"The guys deserve a ton of credit for buying into the switching of defenses, taking care of the ball and keeping an attack mentality," Griz coach Chris Hamilton said. "Thirty-four free throws in a physical game is impressive."

Down three at the break, Franklin (14-10, 10-7 HCAC) reclaimed the lead for good, 44-42, on a pair of free throws by senior Connor McNabb with 17:03 remaining. Matthews followed with a layup, and every time Hanover got within a possession the rest of the way, the Grizzlies had an answer. A 10-2 burst capped by two Matthews foul shots at the 3:17 mark gave the home team its biggest lead at 74-62, and the margin remained at least eight the rest of the way.

A spirited home fan base fed the energy early, as a pair of 3-pointers from Justin Harrington helped the Griz to a 20-12 lead over the first eight minutes. The Panthers settled in, eventually tying the game at 22-22 and going into halftime with a 40-37 lead, but Franklin regained control after the intermission.

Matthews wound up with 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, all team highs. He was joined in double figures by McNabb (14 points), Harrington (13) and Dylan Beverly (10). Senior Avery Saunders had nine points and seven boards against his former team, and Jesse Faires contributed eight points.

The Grizzlies shot 48% (26 of 54) from the field and were helped by a massive 25-11 scoring advantage at the foul line.

Franklin, which honored seniors McNabb, Saunders and Will Spellman before the game, will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday night (Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m.) against Manchester.

"Couldn't be happier for the seniors," Hamilton said. "Connor, Will and Avery all deserve this today. All have had different journeys and brought such special elements to our locker room, and I couldn't be happier for them to experience this today."