Franklin avoided the dreaded second-half swoon and held on for a 76-72 home win against Anderson in a key Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball game Wednesday.
The Grizzlies, who have been plagued by rough patches late in games all season, had another against Anderson, giving up a 10-2 run that put them down by eight, 67-59, with 5:07 to play.
But Franklin didn’t collapse and slowly chipped away, eventually taking the lead with 1:15 to go on a pair of Borden Kennedy free throws.
Two more free throws by Kennedy and three by Kale Morris — including one with two seconds to go — completed the comeback for the Grizzlies.
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“We had (the swoon), but we overcame it,” Franklin coach Kerry Prather said. “Some of that spasm tonight was that we held them, held them and held them and then gave up a second and third shot. But we came back and made plays. We’ve struggled with that. There comes a point in a game where you have to make a play, and we did that.”
The outcome was in doubt until the closing seconds. Morris’ two free throws with 11 seconds left put Franklin ahead 75-72. Stanley Duncan’s 3-point attempt for Anderson rimmed out on the other end and Beineke grabbed the rebound. Morris’ next free throw iced the win.
Anderson led by as many as nine (21-12) in the first half but just 35-31 at the half. The two teams traded baskets throughout the second half and were tied four times, including 57-57 with 7:40 left on the clock.
The next two minutes belonged to Anderson, which used its 10-2 run to seemingly put the game away before Franklin came back quickly to tie the game.
After getting outrebounded by five in the first half — and allowing nine offensive rebounds — Franklin reversed that in the second half and finished down just 39-38 on the boards. Beineke was responsible for 10 of those rebounds to go with his 13 points.
Kennedy led Franklin with 19 points and added six rebounds, six assists and three steals in an overall strong performance. Morris and Jordan Anderson added 10 points each.
Anderson’s Duncan led all scorers with 21 points and Cole Hartman scored 19 for the Ravens (9-9) off the bench.
The win allows Franklin (5-13) to effectively move into sixth place in the HCAC standings ahead of Anderson. The two teams are tied at 4-7, but Franklin owns the tiebreaker thanks to a sweep of both games this season.
“After the game, you can say this was a big win,” Prather said with a smile. “The next five games, honestly, are against teams that we’ve either beaten or lost to by one. If we’re going to make a run it had to start tonight. This was a good win.”
The Grizzlies will attempt to bolster its postseason chances and look to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season when they host Defiance on Saturday.
