CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Mount St. Joseph men's basketball team wins over Franklin 76-68 in final home game of the season.
Luke Collinsworth led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, going 7-17 from the field and 6-7 from the free-throw line. Leading a balanced offensive attack that saw nine Lions score in the game.
Evan Wiehe was the only other Lion in double-figures with 10 points.
Nate Kratzer (9),
Willard Cluxton (8),
Dayne Gardner (8),
Jack Kolar (7), Mathew Menninger (5),
Alex Totton (5), Danny Austin (2) and
Josh Batte (1) rounded out the scoring for Coach Carrigan.
Franklin scored the first basket of the game, but the Mount quickly regained the lead and would hold their advantage the rest of the first half. The Lions held a 12-point lead with 4:23 to go in the first half but the Grizzlies closed on an 11-2 run to pull within three at the break.
Early in the second half the Lions pushed their lead back to 8 at 35-27 on a three-pointer by Wiehe. Franklin though kept chipping away at the Lions advantage. They would eventually take the lead with 12:18 to play for the first time since the opening basket.
Franklin pushed their lead to 60-54 with 5:24 to play, but the Lions would not go away. On the next Franklin possession Gardner pulled down the defensive rebound and raced coast to coast to lay the ball in. Franklin answered, but the Lions then got big three's by Kolar and Wiehe on back-to-back possesions to draw within two. The Mount eventually took the lead back on a huge three-point play by Kratzer, giving the Lions the 67-66 advantage with 1:59 to go.
Franklin answered with a layup by Jacob Deere to regain the lead, but down the stretch Collinsworth and the Lions took over. As the Lions big man went on a 7-0 run of his own to put the Lions ahead to stay. A pair of Kolar free-throws ended the Lions 9-0 run to finish the game, securing the 74-68 win.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will finish up their season on Friday as they head to Madison, Indiana to take on the Panthers of Hanover College. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 PM tip-off in Collier Arena.
