Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania men's basketball team unleashed an efficient offensive onslaught in collecting an 88-67 win over the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fightin' Engineers on Saturday afternoon at the Beck Center.

The Pioneers hit a season-high 16 of 31 three-pointers for a 52 percent clip to build upon a 15-point halftime lead and later expand the lead to 30 with under eight minutes to go.  

Transylvania improved to 14-7 overall and 10-4 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play to stay in a tie for first place in the HCAC standings with Franklin College.

Brandon Cromwell continued his emergent freshman campaign with a career-high 18 points to lead four double-digit scorers for the Pioneers; Cromwell hit 7 of 10 field goals and knocked down 4 of 7 triples while adding a team-high five rebounds along with three assists.

The Pioneers assisted on 26 of 34 field goals on Saturday by moving the ball around with precision and teamwork.

After Rose-Hulman found early scores to open up a 10-3 lead, the Pioneers ramped up their defensive intensity to respond on an 11-0 run; seven of the 11 points during the stretch came courtesy of Cromwell field goals while the freshman also assisted Luke Schroeder on another inside score to put the Pioneers in front at 14-10.

Following the run, the Pioneers would hold the lead for the remainder of the afternoon.

The Pioneers exploded on another run behind the threeball mode of attack, outscoring Rose-Hulman 14-5 to seize their first double-digit lead of the afternoon with 6:36 to go in the first half. Transylvania went on to connect on 7 of 17 three-pointers in the first half to claim a 44-29 halftime lead.

Transylvania kept its foot on the gas out of the break, scoring the first eight points on a pair of triples from Gabe Schmitt and Zach Larimore, along with a hyperspeed runner from Spencer McKinney for a 52-29 lead. McKinney later canned his second 3-pointer of the day to cap off an extended 17-4 run to begin the half as the Pioneers took a 61-33 lead.

Gavin Root splashed one of his career-best four triples with 12:24 remaining in the second half to lengthen the Transylvania advantage to 69-40. Root posted a career-high 12 for the Pioneers to lead all reserves in scoring.

Rose-Hulman tried to jaw back into the game with command of the boards, but Larimore and Cromwell each countered with another pair of threeballs and McKinney finished off an 8-0 scoring run to extend the Transylvania stronghold to 77-47 with just under eight minutes left in the contest, sealing the Pioneer victory.

The Pioneers outscored the Engineers, 29-9 in points off turnovers as the Pioneers won the turnover margin by 11 giveaways.

McKinney finished the afternoon with 17 points on 7 for 10 shooting from the floor and committed a game-high four thefts to go with four assists and one block. Larimore finished the game with 10 points on 4 for 7 shooting from the field. Michael Jefferson led the Pioneers with eight dimes, tallying just four fewer assists on the afternoon than the Engineers.

The 21-point win was the Pioneers' largest margin of victory in an HCAC game this season. Transylvania swept the regular-season series with the Engineers after capturing an 83-79 win in Terre Haute on January 18.

Transylvania looks to keep its seven-game win streak going next on Wednesday, February 12 at Mount St. Joseph University in the second matchup of the season between the two teams. The Lions and Pioneers will tip off at 7:30 p.m. at the Harrington Center.

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