Bluffton, Ohio – The Transylvania men's basketball team put forth a powerful performance on Saturday afternoon in a 77-66 win at the Bluffton University Beavers at the Sommer Center.
Transylvania used 40 minutes of aggression for a wire-to-wire win to earn its first conference victory of the season. The Pioneers improved to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play while Bluffton dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Hunter Penn had the most efficient performance of his young career with a team-high 17 points on 7 for 9 shooting from the field to go with seven rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes of work. Brandon Cromwell led a suffocating defensive effort for the Pioneers in an all-around performance encompassing 16 points on 6 for 8 shooting from the field, five rebounds, and two steals.
Playing for the first time in a week after the completion of fall semester finals, the Pioneers burst out of the gate aggressive and hungry with a 9-4 lead, courtesy of two buckets apiece by Penn and Cromwell. After the Beavers stemmed the tide with a bucket, the Pioneers answered with a 7-0 run as Colby Napier downed a triple and Penn struck once more inside.
Cromwell remained hot in the opening half, scoring three straight buckets, the last of which was a pull-up elbow jumper to put the Pioneers in front at 27-13 with 10:44 to go in the first half. Ethan Hudson followed with a three-pointer to lengthen Transy's lead to 30-13.
The Pioneers shot a sweltering 59 percent from the field in the first half on 16 for 27 shooting while hitting 4 of 6 threeballs. Bluffton scored the last five points of the first half to trim Transy's halftime lead to 11, but the Pioneers continued to apply pressure to the Beavers as the second half began.
Penn and Zach Larimore commenced the second half with interior-based scores and though the Beavers tried to keep pace with the Pioneers, Transylvania's defense ratcheted up as the second half continued.
The Pioneers completed an 8-2 run with 12 minutes remaining in regulation following a pair of free throws by Larimore. The lane remained open for the Pioneers as Matthew Teague flew to the rack for consecutive buckets to put the Pioneers ahead by 14 at the midway point of the half.
Transylvania tacked on an 11-3 run off a series of massive defensive stops to claim a 68-48 advantage with under seven minutes to go. The lead for the Pioneers ballooned to as large as 21 points with 3:26 left in the game before reserves for both teams put the finishing touches upon the game.
The Pioneers stymied Bluffton into 35 percent shooting in the second half while the visitors maintained their shooting at a 55 percent clip over the final 20 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Larimore and Zach Stahlman each added 10 points while Ethan Hudson tallied nine.
Saturday's victory marked Transylvania's first double-digit win of the season after its five previous games had all been decided by five points or fewer.
Transylvania will play next on Saturday, December 18 at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. The nonconference contest is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start.
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