Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania men's basketball team rode a hot start to its third consecutive win on Saturday evening with a 91-75 victory over the Anderson University Ravens at the Beck Center.

Opening up the night with an 11-2 lead and later expanding upon that salutation with a 25-11 advantage, the Pioneers took a 13-point lead to the halftime break and never looked back, holding the Ravens at bay throughout the afternoon.

Michael Jefferson turned in his latest superlative individual performance with a game-high 20 points, 11 assists, and added three rebounds and a block while shooting 7 for 15 from the field.

Lucas Gentry paced all players with 10 rebounds as the junior collected his third career double-double and first of the season, including 12 points and two steals.

Five Pioneers in total scored in double figures as Zach Larimore and Gabe Schmitt each had 13 points, and Brandon Cromwell tallied 11.

Saturday's performance was Transylvania's third straight victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play as the Pioneers improved to 6-4 in the HCAC and 10-7 overall, sweeping the season series with Anderson in the process. The Ravens dropped to 5-5 in the HCAC and 8-9 overall.

The Pioneers found their way to the rack with ease in the first five minutes of the day to set up a 20-11 lead. As Anderson fought back, Luke Schroeder began to establish position inside for two quick scores, sandwiching a triple from Larimore for a 23-11 advantage. Will Sivills sank one of his two threeballs on the afternoon with 10 minutes remaining in the first half as the Pioneers built a 28-13 advantage.

Anderson pulled within eight points of the Pioneers with six and a half minutes left in the first period, but Jefferson knocked down a 3-pointer to grow the lead back to double figures for Transylvania. Gentry and Cromwell joined in on the downtown barrage with back-to-back triples, extending Transylvania's lead to its largest of the night at 39-21 with 3:46 remaining.

Anderson countered with an 8-0 run but Jefferson zipped the ball ahead to Larimore on a fastbreak for one of his 11 assists on the evening to grow the halftime lead to 13. Transylvania hit 8 of 14 three-pointers in the first half and shot 11 for 23 from behind the arc overall. Saturday marked the fifth time this season in which the Pioneers have hit 10 or more triples in a game.

Jefferson continued to move the ball and create for himself as the junior converted on a three-point play with 17:20 left in the second half to put the Pioneers ahead, 51-34. Over the next five minutes, the Ravens cut their deficit down to nine, capped off by a pair of free throws by Malik Laffoon. The Pioneers swung back in timely fashion with another 3-pointer from Sivills and a layup by Larimore to extend Transylvania's lead to 63-49.

Anderson would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the evening as Schmitt and Spencer Hemmerich put away game-clinching 3-pointers down the stretch.

The Pioneers assisted on 23 of their 34 field goals on Saturday as Cromwell totaled five dimes and Spencer McKinney added four. Transylvania shot 53 percent from the field for the night, including 48 percent from three-point land and held the Ravens to 44 percent shooting.

Transylvania has now won four of its last five games to move into third place in the HCAC standings. The Pioneers will square off with the Franklin College Grizzlies, who lead the HCAC at 9-1, in their next game on Wednesday, January 29 at the Beck Center in the second meeting of the season for the two teams. The Pioneers and Grizzlies will tip-off their final regular-season meeting at 7:30 p.m.

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