If the old adage about defense winning championships holds any water, Franklin men's basketball got its postseason off to a perfect start.

The fifth-seeded Grizzlies  held host Mount St. Joseph to 19 first-half points on just five made field goals, setting the tone early for a convincing 80-51 road win. Next up is a semifinal showdown at No. 1 seed Transylvania on Friday evening (Feb. 27, 5 p.m.). 

Connor McNabb and Jesse Faires each hit a 3-pointer as Franklin (16-10) stormed out to a 14-3 lead over the first seven minutes. The defense continued to stifle the Lions through the rest of the first half, holding them to 22.7% shooting (5 of 22) from the field.

MSJ made an early second-half push to get within 11 at 38-27, but a Dylan Beverly 3 and a Cooper Matthews layup helped stall the momentum. Franklin started pulling away from there, with a Will Spellman layup and treys from Justin Harrington and McNabb making it 55-32 with 11:54 left in the game.

A Nayiib Browne free throw capped the scoring and gave the Grizzlies their biggest lead with 35 seconds remaining.

The Lions finished the game at 31.9% (15 for 47) from the floor, while Franklin shot 52.5% overall (32 for 61) and made half of their 3-point tries (10 of 20).

Harrington scored 18 and Matthews 17 for the Griz, getting joined in double digits by Beverly (11) and Faires (10).