Transylvania used a 21-2 run midway through the second half to pull away for a 84-69 win at Franklin in men’s college basketball Wednesday.
The visiting Pioneers trailed 52-51 after a pair of Hunter DeHaven free throws with 11:08 to play. But over the next five and a half minutes Transylvania went on a tear that turned the game into a rout.
“They got us on some of the easy things that you expect to be good at,” said Franklin senior John Beineke, who surpassed the 1,000-point barrier in the loss. “We’re a young team and sometimes we make those mental errors. (Transylvania) really took advantage of some of those mistakes and sometimes we’re just not sharp enough.”
Transylvania (12-4, 7-2 HCAC) maintained a three-possession lead through the first several minutes of the second half before Franklin made its move. The Grizzlies went on a 14-4 run to take a 47-45 lead with 14:18 left on a Sam Gutierrez 3-pointer.
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After Transylvania’s Robert Dence tied the game on a jumper, Beineke put the Grizzlies back on top with a turnaround jumper in the lane with 12:32 left, the 1,000th and 1,001st points of his Franklin career.
“I didn’t get it in high school, so it’s a new experience for me. I’m sure it’s something that I will look back on and be very proud of,” Beineke said of the milestone. “I just want to thank coach and my teammates for trusting in me to do big things in the offense.”
Franklin (4-12, 3-6) still was on top a minute later thanks to two DeHaven free throws, but the wheels quickly fell off for the Grizzlies. Starting with a Kyle Gullett layup with 10:15 to go, Transylvania ripped off the 21-2 run that was only broken up by a Beineke layup.
The run staked the Pioneers to a 72-54 lead with six and a half minutes to go and effectively ended the game.
Beineke led the Grizzlies with 20 points and five assists. Morris added 15 points, Borden Kennedy scored 14 and DeHaven had 13.
Franklin, which is sitting one game out of the HCAC’s top six — the cutoff for the league’s postseason tournament — travels to Hanover on Saturday.
