Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. â€" Saturday's Earlham College men's basketball game may have been about defense, but it also came down to one shot.

Chris Holmes banked home the game-winner from the left side with 2.5 seconds remaining to give the Quakers a 61-59 victory over Franklin College on Schuckman Court in the Athletics and Wellness Center.

Earlham called a timeout with 24 seconds left to set up the final play. After letting the clock tick away, Holmes drove to the left and scored.

After the score, Franklin called timeout. The Grizzlies failed to get the ball inbounds as it went off a player's hand to give Earlham the ball.

Kirk Douglas was fouled and missed the two free throws, but it didn't matter as Franklin's deparation heave off the rebound wasn't close.

For Earlham Head Coach Marcus Gill, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest was really about his squad's defense as the offense sputtered.

"It's all about defense," Gill said. "We shot terrible in the first half, but I tell our players if we guard, we will be right there."

The Quakers were in the game at halftime, but Franklin led 23-19. The Quakers were able to comeback from that point.

"We defended well and made a few shots in the second half, but it was all about the defense," Gill said.

Holmes led the Quakers with 27 points and seven rebounds, while Jack O'Flaherty had 19 points with a perfect 14-of-14 performance from the free throw line in the second half.

Douglas finished with eight points and four blocks. His school season record is now at 75 blocks.

Fast Start

The Quakers began the afternoon with a 10-1 advantage after Douglas slammed his second dunk of the game home at the 17:01 mark of the first half.

The Grizzlies (10-13, 7-9) were able to respond, but it took most of the period as they built their four-point halftime lead in the last moments of the half.

In the second half, Franklin was able to maintain its distance from the Quakers until O'Flaherty hit a pair of free throws at 13:57 to tie the contest at 31-31.

Earlham was able to put together a run that gave the Quakers a 51-44 lead with 5:44 left as Phillip Boone drilled two free throws.

The Grizzlies answered in a big way as they scored 11 straight to go on top 55-51 with 2:53 remaining.

Four more free throws by O'Flaherty eventually tied the game at 55-55 at 1:56. From that time, the game was tied twice as the Quakers led the rest of the way.

Earlham (5-18, 4-12) entertains Bluffton University on Wednesday as the Quakers play their final home contest of the regular season. The game gets underway at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score