The Franklin College men’s basketball team lost a wild one to the Manchester College Spartans Wednesday night by a score of 69-66. The Grizzlies fell to 5-6 in HCAC play and 13-9 overall while the Spartans improved to 8-3 in the HCAC and 14-8 overall.
The Grizzlies started off strong, jumping out to a 21-9 lead. The Spartans defense then began to shine, however, holding the Grizzlies to just two points during the last nine minutes of the first half. The Spartans took a 34-23 lead into halftime.
The Grizzlies played well during the second half and were able to fight their way back to within two points of the Spartans with just 2:59 remaining in the game. The Spartans’ Jon Cain then hit a clutch 3-pointer to give the Spartans a 63-58 lead.
The Grizzlies Darrius Jackson then hit two free-throws to pull the Grizzlies back to within three. The Spartans put in a lay up with :59 remaining to garner a five-point lead. FC quickly responded when Nick Scott hit a layup and once again drew to within three. The Grizzlies then stole the in-bounds pass but failed to capitalize. The Grizzlies’ Jackson hit a three-pointer with :07 remaining to draw the Grizzlies to within one. The Spartans hit two free-throws with :04 remaining to seal the deal as a buzzer-beating three-point attempt narrowly rimmed out for the Grizzlies.
FC was lead in scoring by Jackson who had 20 points and four rebounds. Scott and Josh Finke contributed 12 points each. Jared Sabelhaus added nine points and had two steals.