The number 500 is one of those magical figures in sports.
Cy Young won more than 500 games as a pitcher, Wayne Gretzky scored that and more in hockey and Peyton Manning tossed for 500 touchdowns, plus 39 more for emphasis.
Veteran Franklin College men’s head basketball coach Kerry Prather collected his 500th career victory when the Grizzlies defeated visiting Otterbein College Friday night, 84-77, in the season opener at the Spurlock Center.
After the win, the Grizzlies huddled with fans at center court the basket and celebrated with Prather, tossing commemorative t-shirts about.
“You think about winning the next game,” said Prather. “Someone texted me today and said something about the 500th win and my response was, ‘I just want to have the first win of a whole bunch of wins this season.’ But I do think it would be silly not to reflect on what a great experience this has been in a great community, at a great school, and this doesn’t happen much anymore.”
It wasn’t easy.
This was a game in which neither team could pull out a lead larger than 10 in the first half, despite both Franklin and Otterbein being presented with opportunities to do so.
The Grizzlies went six minutes without a score early in the first half, but the Cardinals could only go up by seven before Franklin found the mark from the field.
The key for the Grizzlies was they did not give up another series of points like they did in the first half.
“If you’re going to pin your strategy someplace, do it with defense,” said Prather. “If they can’t score, you can’t lose.”
Franklin did a nice job inside with a 32-24 point advantage in the pain, and they shot 73 percent from the field in the first half. The Grizzlies cooled off a bit in the second half, but not enough to hurt.
The Cardinals did cut the lead to two, 73-71, with 3:54 left, but that was the closest they could get. The Grizzlies outscored Otterbein 11-6 the rest of the way.
It was a team effort for Franklin as there were four players in double figures, led by 6-foot-5 sophomore Danny Goggans’ 22 points. Fellow sophomore Sam Gutierrez had 18, while Jordan Anderson added 15 and Kyle Meyer chipped in with 10.
Prather goes after win No. 501 Tuesday night against DePauw.
