Cincinnati, Ohio—The Mount St. Joseph University Men's Basketball program was back in action on Wednesday, January 19. The Lions played host to the Grizzlies of Franklin College in a Heartland Conference battle. Both teams entered this game in a bit of a rut, with the Grizzlies losers on their last four, while the Lions had dropped three straight. Hoping to remain relevant in the HCAC standing, both teams battled, with Franklin coming out on top 72-68.
The game got off to a swift start, seeing both teams knock down the deep ball on their opening possession. Franklin was able to grow their lead to 8-3 before Devin Young was able to connect on a tightly contested shot from the block and responding with another easy layup. In the Lions next trip, Tanner Clos would make good on his first attempt of the game on an easy layup attempt.
The scoring of Franklin would slow down significantly, after the first media stoppage of the game. This saw the Lions force three consecutive stops, while Clos added two from the charity stripe. Following another Franklin miss, Jack Kolar was able to sink a contested three pointer, to claim the first lead of the game for the Lions at 12-10. Franklin would finally score after seven empty trips, hitting a three pointer to pull within one point of the Lions. This seemed to ignite both offenses once again, as they began trading buckets.
With a physical attack of the basket, Clos was able to finish a tightly contested shot, gaining the Lions a three point lead with seven minutes left to play in the first half. In the mean-time the Grizzlies were able to add five points to regain a 22-20 lead. Clos continued to add to his impressive performance knocking down a corner three after a beautiful pass from Thomas. Following a second chance bucket Franklin the Lions reclaimed the lead as Young found a cutting Thomas for an easy layup.
In the final three minutes of the opening half, Franklin was able to claim a 27-25 lead thanks to a three-ball. Young was able to keep this hotly contested battle close as Young knocked down two free throws knotting the game up at 27. Another three in the second consecutive trip gave Franklin the lead back, before Clos was able to pull down an offensive board and find Thomas for another three. Thomas was able to draw a foul with 23.9 left on the clock, knocking down two free-throws to gain a late half lead. Franklin was able to find the bottom of the net on a corner three-pointer, giving them back a one point lead, sending the Lions to half trailing, 33-32.
To start the second half of action, the Lions attempted to build a lead, seeing the combination of Young, Thomas and Gardner score to give the Lions a 38-35 edge. After the Mount claimed the lead, the Grizzles were able to fire back in impressive fashion. Franklin was able to assemble a 7-0 run. With 14 minutes of action remaining, David Lures was able to find an open Kolar for a run stopping three-pointer. Lures went on to score the next buckets for the Lions.
After the Lions were able to tie the game up at 45-45, Franklin put together another big run, this time 13-3. Now trailing 60-48, Kolar came up with another big three-pointer, followed by a Lions stop and a sweet jumper from the hands of Willard Cluxton. As time was running out the Lions made their best efforts in crawling back into the game going on a 9-4 run to close the game, falling short by a final of 72-68.
Despite the loss the Lions had several impressive performances. Clos led the Lions in scoring with 14 points, including a 2-2 performance from three. Brady Thomas added 12 to the Lions cause. Finally Kolar's 3-6 shooting from behind the arc, saw him register 11 points.
The Lions now turn their attentions to Anderson University, who they will travel to on Saturday, January 22. This game is set to tip-off at 3PM. For continued coverage of this game and all other MSJ athletics, continue to follow msjlions.com
