Box Score
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Hanover wiped out a six-point deficit over the final 1:43 Wednesday and handed Transylvania a 73-70 loss in Heartland Conference men's basketball action at the Beck Center.
Transy (18-6, 13-4 HCAC) dropped out of a second-place tie with the Panthers (17-7, 14-3 HCAC) in the conference race. Transy, which had won eight of its past nine games, will be the No. 3 seed in next week's HCAC tourney and will host a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday.
The Pioneers led by 15 points in the first half and by as many as 13 in the second before Hanover rallied. Transy led 68-62 following a pair of
Tate Cox free throws with 1:43 left. But Hanover converted a layup on the ensuing play, then took advantage of consecutive Transy turnovers to score five points for a 7-0 run and a 69-68 lead.
Brandon Rash, who became the leading scorer in the non-scholarship era of the men's basketball program with a team-high 22 points, missed a jumper, but
Ethan Spurlin grabbed the rebound and was fouled. His free throws gave Transy its final lead, 70-69 with 50 seconds to go.
Hanover hit four straight free throws down the stretch and Rash narrowly missed a leaner from five feet with nine seconds left.
Rash also had six rebounds. Spurlin had 17 points and eight boards and
Barrett Meyer added 12 points and five rebounds.
Parker Stansberry notched eight points.
Hanover's Tim Bass led all scorers with 25 ponts, including 10 of 18 shooting from the field. He scored 17 in the second half. Kyle James added 14 points.
Transy shot 48 percent from the field compared to 42 percent for the visitors, but Hanover made 10 of 29 from behind the arc to two of eight for the Pioneers. Hanover was seven of 16 from long range in the second half to fuel its comeback. Transy made 16 of 18 of its free throws to 11 of 15 for Hanover.
Transy jumped to an early 15-point lead, 23-8 at the 10:29 mark on a bucket by Spurlin on a
Taylor Botkin assist. Hanover whittled its deficit down to three, 29-26 with 55 seconds to go.
Transy answered with a long three by Meyer and an old fashioned three-point play just before the buzzer on another great pass by Botkin. That made it 35-26 at the break.
Spurlin, Meyer, and Rash each had 10 points in the period as the Pioneers hit 53 percent (16 of 30) from the field. Hanover was nine of 26 for 34.6 percent. Tim Bass led the visitors with eight points while Brian Gunter had seven points and seven boards.
Rash, who has 1,329 points, passed Matt Finke (1,319) among players who have competed since Transy joined the NCAA Division III in 2001-02. He is now No. 21 on the all-time scoring list.
The Pioneers will entertain Bluffton Saturday in a 4 p.m. Senior Day contest. Transy will honor its seven seniors prior to tip-off.
