PITSBURG – The Franklin Monroe Jets escaped with a narrow 55-52 non-conference victory over the visiting Belmont Bison in Saturday night varsity boys basketball action, surviving a frantic finish in the closing seconds.
Leading by 12 points with just over three minutes remaining, the Jets saw Belmont storm back and appeared headed for overtime when the Bisons knocked down a potential game-tying split-second three at the buzzer. The shot was waved off, however, preserving the hard-earned Franklin Monroe win.
“I thought for three quarters and six minutes, we executed the preparation we had,” said Franklin Monroe coach Troy Myers. “For the majority of the game, we executed defensively how we wanted to—trying to keep them out of the paint and force outside jumpers.”
Franklin Monroe grabbed an early 14-9 first-quarter lead behind nine points from Lucas Brenner, a Braden Gilbert three-pointer, and back-to-back Blake Riffle free throws.
Belmont answered in the second period, outscoring the Jets 18-11 to take a slim 27-25 advantage into halftime.
The Jets responded with their strongest stretch in the third quarter, tightening defensively and limiting the Bison to just six points while scoring 15 of their own. Gilbert sparked the run with three triples for nine points in the period, Riffle went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, and Brenner added a bucket to give Franklin Monroe a 40-33 lead entering the fourth.
“Last night he struggled, but I give Braden a lot of credit because he has been working really hard on his response all season,” Myers said of Gilbert. “His mentality coming into tonight’s game was like a shooter should have—have a short memory and, when you get opportunities, knock them down. He came up big and created a gap for us early in the third quarter.”
Franklin Monroe pushed its lead to 12 midway through the fourth, but Belmont rallied to cut the deficit to 49-44 with 1:42 remaining, forcing a Jets timeout. The hosts extended the margin to 53-46 with 56 seconds left before the Bison made one final push.
Belmont trimmed the lead to 55-52 with 10 seconds remaining and raced up the floor following the inbound, hitting a last-second three that was waved off as time expired.
“A lot of credit to our guys without any timeouts at the end of the game,” Myers said. “To be able, at minimum, to get to the free-throw line—Braxton Cool, Braden Gilbert, and Blake Riffle made some clutch free throws down the stretch.”
Free-throw shooting proved decisive. The Jets converted 20 of 23 attempts (87 percent), while Belmont finished just 2-for-4 (50 percent).
Belmont freshman Jamauri Benson delivered an impressive performance, leading all scorers with 26 points.
“Give a lot of credit to their freshman,” Myers said. “He kept them close and closed the gap late. It was a very impressive performance.”
Gilbert paced Franklin Monroe with 19 points, including five three-pointers, as the Jets held on for the non-conference victory.
“We were not very good in situation basketball, and it darn near cost us the game,” Myers added. “But hopefully it’s something we can see on film and grow from at this point in the season.”
BOX SCORE:
FRANKLIN MONROE 55, BELMONT 52
FRANKLIN MONROE – B. Gilbert 19, L. Brenner 15, B. Riffle 15, B. Cool 4, R. Brumbaugh 2 – TOTALS 10 20-23 5 55
BELMONT – J. Benson 26, I. Scott 8, D. Barns 6, B. McComb 5, L. Chapel 3, A. Dandrea 2, J. Holloway 2 – TOTALS 16 2-4 6 52
3-POINTERS
Franklin Monroe 5 (Gilbert 5)
Belmont 6 (D. Barns 2, J. Benson 2, L. Chapel 1, B. McComb 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
14-11-15-15 55 Franklin Monroe
09-18-06-19 52 Belmont
