Box Score FRANKLIN, Ind. — The Earlham College men's basketball team battled Franklin College on Saturday afternoon as the Quakers fell 74-65 in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference affair.

Both teams had small advantages throughout the game with Franklin eventually leading 64-62 after Marty Broderick (Mooresville, IN, Mooresville) scored for the Quakers with 1:28 remaining in the contest. Unfortunately for the Quakers, the Grizzlies (3-4, 1-1) finished the game with a 10-3 run to come out on top.

"We played very well and could have easily won," Earlham Head Coach Jeff Justus said. "In the end, they were were up two, so we had to foul and they made their free throws."

Early in the contest, Franklin went on a five-point run to take a 15-10 lead with 13:02 left in the opening stanza. Earlham bounced back to cut the deficit to one, but the Grizzlies scored six straight points to lead 21-14 at the 7:51 mark.

But the Quakers had an answer as they scored eight in a row capped by a dunk from Colton Bragg (Richmond, IN, Richmond), which gave Earlham a 22-21 advantage with 3:51 left before halftime.

In the final moments of the period, Bragg scored again to give the Quakers a 33-26 lead with 44 seconds left. Franklin ended the half with the next five points as the Quakers led 33-31 at intermission.

"We were playing very well in the first half until the last minute and had some unfortunate turnovers that allowed them to comeback," Justus said.

In the second half, the game was eventually tied 40-40 before Franklin went on a 5-0 run to build a 45-40 advantage with 14:26 remaining.

Earlham fought back and the game was tied at 53-53 with 7:50 left. From that point however, Franklin worked its way to a 61-55 lead with 4:26 left and the Grizzlies were able to hold off the Quakers after Broderick got the Quakers to within two points with just over a minute left on the clock.

Bragg led the Quakers with 19 points, while Josh Green (Campbellsburg, IN, West Washington) tossed in 13 points. Broderick, who had five assists, and Justin Barger (Ellettsville, IN, Edgewood) added 11 points each. Bragg and Dustin Rusk (Frankfort, IN, Clinton Prairie), who had four points, topped the squad with eight rebounds apiece. 

The Quakers (1-5, 0-2) entertain the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Wednesday. The HCAC contest on Schuckman Court in the Athletics and Wellness Center gets underway at 7:30 p.m.

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