Basketball team comes up short

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By Dan Schumerth, November 18, 2008

The Grizzlies started hot, taking a quick 8-0 lead. Senior Jared Catron had four of those points and would finish with 10.

 

 The lead lasted almost over eight minutes until Trine took a 13-12 lead, the first of seven lead changes throughout the half. It was a half of small spurts the rest of the way, of which Trine ended on top.

 

Trine led by as many as 12 points, 42-30, in the first half, but six free throws – two each by senior Jace Redman, freshman Zach Merschbrock and junior Jeff Gasser – helped Franklin close in on the deficit before the buzzer sounded. They trailed 44-40 at the half.

 

“At the end of the first half we cut that lead not because we scored, but because we got stops and scored,” head coach Kerry Prather said.

 

“We’re capable of doing that, but we’re capable of doing it in very small spurts right now.”
 

Trine shot 69.0 percent from the floor on the half, while Franklin shot 57.7 percent. Franklin turned the ball over 10 times to Trine’s nine.

 

The small spurts by each team continued in the second half. They traded baskets until Franklin was able to take the lead with 10:17 remaining, 54-52. The lead lasted until the clock read 08:05, when Trine went up 56-54 for the second and last lead change of the half.

 

The Grizzlies continued to go on small runs -- getting as close as 71-68 -- but were never able to climb back on top.

 

“[We’re] capable of doing what we need to do over a longer stretch of time. But you’ve got to develop – as a team – a mindset that understands that this is a 40-minute proposition,” Prather said.

 

“As long as you’ve got a lot of optional possessions […] you’re going to get beat, a lot.”
 

Two free throws by Trine’s Deon Thompson extended the Trine lead to 73-68, which stuck until the final buzzer.

 

Catron took an elbow to the head, forcing him to leave in the second half. He never returned to the game, but is expected to play in the next game.
 

Redman led the Grizzlies in points and assists with 15 and five, respectively. Senior Dustin Marshall scored 11 points, leaving him one shy of the 1,000-point mark for his career.

 

Merschbrock led the team in rebounds with seven. Senior John Yochum and freshman Will Conoley had six rebounds each. Gasser led the Grizzlies in steals with two.

 

Prather does not count the team out yet.
 

“We will eventually resign ourselves to the fact that if we guard people really well than we have a chance to be really good,” Prather said. “And if we’re a notch below that, we have every opportunity to be really average.”

 

The Grizzlies travel to Wabash College on Friday, where they will face DePauw University at 7 pm as part of the Wabash Little Giant Tip-Off.