MBB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 02, 2025, 12:02:09 PM

The mens coaches weren't very good prognosticators this season. The women's poll was excellent but the men's poll had some bad predictions. The top 2 were predicted to finish 3rd and 6th. Manchester was the overwhelming choice to win and they tied for 8th. They did get Earlham in last which the women didn't get right.

Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on October 24, 2024, 07:19:59 PMPreseason poll is out

1. Manchester (8) 80
2. Hanover (1) 68
3. Anderson (1) 61
4. Rose-Hulman 53
5. Transylvania 52
6. Franklin 47
7. Berea 29
8. Mount St. Joseph 26
9. Bluffton 24
10. Earlham 10

Man, I wish I could use glow on text like we used to.

1. Anderson 15-3
2. Franklin 14-4
3. Rose-Hulman 13-5
4. Hanover 11-7
4. Transylvania 11-7
6. Mount St Joseph 8-10
7. Berea 6-12
8. Manchester 5-13
8. Bluffton 5-13
10 Earlham 2-16

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 03, 2025, 02:47:11 PM

Franklin will head to St Louis to face Denison. Should they win they'll face the winner of WashU and Central.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 07, 2025, 05:57:40 PM

Announcer for this game needs to do a little better research. I've heard Franklin University multiple times, surprise that they haven't played since the 1969-70 season because Franklin and Denison are just 34 miles apart (NCAA calculator says 228 miles).

The refs have been bad (but at least they've been bad for both teams). A number of questionable foul calls. One shot was called a shot clock violation even though it was shot before the buzzer (you might think sound delay on the stream but even the announcer said so)

Denison leads 31-27 at the half. Franklin led early, Denison took charge the latter portion of the half.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 07, 2025, 07:00:45 PM

Denison pulled away a bit but Franklin clawed their way back and it's tied at 59 headed to OT. Both teams went 1 for 2 from the line in the final half minute.
First OT of the tournament.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 07, 2025, 07:19:51 PM

Franklin gets the steal on Denison's final possession to preserve a 67-64 win. They now await the winner of WashU and Central.

In their last 6 games, the total margin has been a combined 24 points with 2 of them in OT. Grizzlies are 5-1 in that stretch.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 07, 2025, 07:38:55 PM

This is the first time since the 05-06 season that Franklin has won at least 20 games. Currently they're 22-7 which is tied for the 4th most wins (and tied for most wins not coached by Kerry Prather). They went 23-6 in both 97-98 and 98-99 while their best season was in 1991-92 when they went 25-4

Jay Murry · March 07, 2025, 11:56:41 PM

To FCGrizzliesGrad and the rest of the Franklin fans...

My apologies for being confused about many things Franklin. I'll do better tomorrow.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 08, 2025, 02:41:29 PM

I'm sure you'll do much better tonight. Hopefully you've had a chance to brush up on Franklin College knowledge. I'm just happy there's a tomorrow (tonight) for you to improve on. It's going to be a lot tougher for the Grizzlies to win tonight.
I know they aren't in the Pac12 anymore but The University of Washington Huskies shouldn't even be in the D3 tournament

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 08, 2025, 08:25:31 PM

This game has been all about runs. WashU had the early 8 point lead, Franklin got within 1. WashU pushed it back out to 8, Franklin tied it at 22. WashU finished the half on a 14-2 run to lead 36-24 at halftime.
Grizzlies need to stop shooting so many 3s. They've not been falling. They'd get on a roll and catch up then start jacking up 3s and letting WashU pull away again.
Still 20 minutes left but it's going to be tough to pull off another upset from here.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 08, 2025, 08:55:49 PM

WashU continued their run coming out of the half. Lead reached 20. Franklin already has more 3s than the first half but they're only 5 of 22 for the game. 39-55 with 11 minutes left.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 08, 2025, 09:02:40 PM

This game is over. Still 8 minutes left but Franklin is just bricking 3s from 4 feet behind the arc. WashU up 23 now.

FCGrizzliesGrad · March 08, 2025, 09:35:22 PM

Franklin just continued to miss and WashU kept extending the lead. Final score 83-54. Congrats to the Bears. First 15 minutes were great, last 25 was all WashU.
Franklin shot 6 of 34 from deep. Exactly half of their shots were from long range.

The season comes to an end for the Grizzlies at 22-8, an HCAC tournament title, and an NCAA tournament win. I'd call that a successful season.