Thursday, February 14, 2013
by Dane Neumeister

Host Franklin College converted key free throws in the game's final minutes, en route to a 53-51 win over the Mount on Wednesday night. The Lions fall to 8-16 overall on the season and 7-10 in the HCAC, tying them with Bluffton University and Anderson University for the final HCAC Tournament spot. The Mount will end the 2012-13 regular season on Feb. 16 when the play at Anderson. The Lions can clinch the final tournament spot with a win over the Ravens. The HCAC Tournament will take place Feb. 19, 22-23.

Franklin jumped out to an early 9-0 lead against the Lions, with the Mount getting on the scoreboard with 16:33 on the first half clock, thanks to a basket by Ken Kunkel (Cincinnati, OH/Colerain). After a 17-all tie with 5:14 to play in the first half, the two teams played close throughout the rest of the half and went into the locker room with a 22-all tie. The Lions out-shot the Grizzlies 43 to 33 percent in the first half.

The Mount turned up the intensity to start the second half, jumping out to a 33-28 lead, with 15:07 remaining, after a lay-up by Travis Combs (Manchester, OH/Manchester). Franklin would grab back the lead just under two minutes later, however, 35-34. After more play similar to the first half, the Mount's Andy Countryman (Peebles, OH/Peebles) hit a shot to give the Lions a 44-41 advantage with just over six minutes left in the game. Two more tie scores, 44-all and 49-all led to Franklin College breaking the tie with 2:20 left in the game to take a 50-49 lead. The Grizzlies converted two more free throws with 1:19 to play, to forge ahead 52-49, before Combs made a lay-up to cut the deficit to 52-51 with 52 seconds left in the game. Franklin pushed their lead to two points, 53-51, by making one-of-two free throws with 33 seconds left. The Mount missed potential game-tying shots with 11 seconds left and at the buzzer, dropping the closely-contested match-up with the Grizzlies.

Joel Scudder (Greendale, IN/South Dearborn) and Kunkel led the way offensively for the Mount, with each scoring 14 points. Jacob Daniels (Peebles, OH/Peebles) collected a team-high five rebounds. The Mount out-shot Franklin from the field in the game, 46 to 45 percent, and made three-of-12 three-point shots to the Grizzlies' six-of-16 from long range. The Lions were four-of-10 from the free throw line while Franklin converted nine-of-17 free throw attempts. Franklin committed 18 turnovers while the Mount had 16 turnovers in the game. The Grizzlies won the battle of the boards, 27-20.