North Manchester, Ind. – The Transylvania men's basketball team was upended by the Manchester University Spartans, 88-80 on Sunday afternoon at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.
Transylvania dropped to 6-5 overall and 1-3 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play while Manchester moved to 2-2 in conference play and 3-8 overall.
Hunter Penn led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds on a sharp 9 for 12 showing from the floor but the Spartans built a big half lead that had the Pioneers chasing for the duration of the afternoon. The Pioneers cooled off Manchester's offense in the second half as the Spartans turned in 35 percent shooting in the final half, but the home team held off a steady comeback effort from Transylvania.
Zach Larimore provided his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The Spartans were spurred by a fast offensive start on Sunday, nailing 9 of 15 three-pointers in the first half and shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor. Transylvania shot a 46 percent mark from the field but connected on only one triple in the first half.
Leading 12-8 early on, Manchester went on an 11-0 burst to build up a 15-point cushion with 12:58 to go in the first half. The Manchester lead grew to 47-27 with 3:03 remaining in the half before Luke Schroeder canned a pair of buckets to trim the deficit to 51-33 at the half.
Transylvania displayed an intense response in the first four minutes of the half; Hunter Penn scored in transition to cut the Spartan lead to 59-47 with 15:58 left in regulation. Penn added consecutive buckets on ensuing transition opportunities to slice the Manchester advantage to 64-55 at the 9:25 mark of the second half.
Manchester was able to extend its lead back to 13 points with 2:50 left in regulation before the Pioneers unfurled a quick 7-1 run for an 80-73 game with 1:15 left. Larimore scored inside on a three-point play to bring the Pioneers within six points at 82-76 with 1:02 remaining. The Pioneers forced a stop and Aiden Pashley earned his way to the free throw line, burying both tries to make it an 82-78 game with 32 seconds to go. Manchester responded by hitting all six of its final free throws in the final half minute to hold off the Pioneers.
Brandon Cromwell added 17 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, and a block in a team-high 35 minutes.
The Pioneers are back in action on Wednesday, January 5 to take on the Earlham College Quakers in another HCAC bout. Transylvania visits Earlham at 7:30 p.m. in Richmond, Indiana.
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