Terre Haute, Ind. – The Transylvania men's basketball team came up one possession short against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fightin' Engineers in a 67-65 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Hulbert Arena.
Transylvania dropped to 8-7 overall on the season and 3-5 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play while Rose-Hulman improved to 10-5 overall and 6-3 in the conference standings.
Zach Larimore had an efficient effort, leading the Pioneers with 21 points on 8 for 12 shooting from the field to go with four rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Brandon Cromwell posted 19 points, one steal, and one rebound while shooting 50 percent from the floor on Saturday.
After a back-and-forth first half in which neither team led by more than three points over the final 11 minutes of the first half, Rose-Hulman carried a 35-32 advantage to the break. The veterans Cromwell and Larimore combined for 16 points in the nip and tuck first half that saw the Pioneers offer a balanced inside-outside offensive attack.
The Engineers opened up a 45-36 lead at the 15:27 mark of the second quarter but the Pioneers dug deep and began to manifest another comeback. Jack Patton scored two of his 11 points on a key jumper with 8:28 to go in regulation, thinning the Rose-Hulman lead to 51-50.
The Pioneers came all the way back, finally overtaking the Engineers on a laborious and-one drive from Cromwell with 1:08 remaining. The junior completed the three-point play to hand Transylvania a 63-62 lead.
Rose-Hulman was able to break out in the open floor, leading to a foul and free throws, but split the pair. The Engineers replicated another free-throw trip, but again could only put in 1 of 2 shots with 18 seconds to go for a 65-63 cushion.
The Pioneers took advantage of the Engineers' free throw miscues as Larimore earned two corresponding charity shots and buried them both to tie up the game at 65-65. As the Engineers toiled to trigger the inbound, the home team finally spotted guard Jackson Kabrick streaking away for a long pass; his runner missed but Kabrick was fouled and he nailed both shots to spot the Engineers a 67-65 lead with five seconds left.
Transylvania had time for one final shot, but Cromwell's desperation three-pointer missed short, and the Engineers secured the slim win.
Hunter Penn added a game-high 11 rebounds to go with eight points and three blocks for the Pioneers.
Transylvania returns to Lexington for its next game on Wednesday, January 26 to host the Manchester University Spartans. The Pioneers will play the Spartans in the second game of a rare weekday matinee scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at the Beck Center.
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