Poor shooting usually doesn’t win teams basketball games.
Ask the Franklin College men’s team.
Franklin shot a paltry 40 percent from the field, allowing visiting Centre College to take a 66-55 win at the Spurlock Center on Tuesday night.
Centre won despite the fact that it fared only marginally better from the field at 40.6 percent.
But the Colonels shot more, with more balls falling in.
Besides the cold shooting, Franklin also fell victim to what one Centre fan described as “smart basketball.”
Smart in that the Colonels used their inside game and capitalized on fast break, second-chance baskets and points off turnovers to stop the Grizzlies.
This was the last nonconference game for Franklin before the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play begins.
Unless the Grizzlies (1-4) can improve their overall play, more bad news might be forthcoming against league competition.
Franklin had a costly dry spell in the first half, a result of some shots that just wouldn’t fall in. The Grizzlies went nearly five minutes without a field goal, which allowed the Colonels to jump out to a double-digit lead despite turning the ball over three times within two minutes on traveling violations.
It wasn’t like Franklin was throwing up just any shot; these were balls that didn’t go in for various reasons.
“During that span of time, we had some good shots,” Franklin coach Kerry Prather said. “We missed some good shots and didn’t rebound nearly as well as in past games.”
The deficit swelled to 17 at one point in the second half, but soon the Colonels had a minor dry spell of their own.
As a result, Franklin cut the lead to nine, 48-39, with 9:56 to play, but seven unanswered points by Centre gave the visitors enough of a cushion to hold off the Grizzlies the rest of the way.
“We had a good stretch, but we couldn’t convert to even the game,” Prather said. “We weren’t relentless.”
Leading all scorers was Franklin senior center John Beineke, who had 22 points. Teammate Sam Gutierrez added 12 points.
Centre had three guys in double figures, with Jacob Bates leading the way with 11. Bailey Rakes and Perry Ayres had 10 each.
Up next for the Grizzlies is their HCAC opener at home against Hanover at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. It will be the final leg of a four-game homestand, Franklin’s longest this season.
