Carlinville, Ill. – The Transylvania men's basketball team had its offense in gear all night, cruising to a 74-65 win over the Blackburn College Beavers on Saturday evening at the Woodward Athletic Center.

Four different players totaled double figures in the nonconference bout as the Pioneers moved to 5-2 overall on the season while Blackburn dropped to 1-8 overall.

Brandon Cromwell led the charge with an all-around performance, tallying 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and two assists while logging a game-high 35 minutes.

Blackburn opened up the night with a 6-2 lead before the Pioneers settled into their rhythm. Cromwell coasted to the rack for his first of six field goals on the night and Zach Larimore canned a runner off of a spin move to tie the game at 6-6 with the contest four minutes old.

Following a Blackburn bucket, Colby Napier tossed in the first of four triples on the night to kickstart an 11-0 Transy run and clinch the lead for the rest of the night. Aiden Pashley added back-to-back baskets for a 21-13 advantage at the 12:16 mark of the first half. Pashley would go on to score 11 of his career-high 15 points in the opening half to help spot the Pioneers a 44-35 advantage at the break.

Transylvania shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half and 40 percent from three-point range to secure the long-term lead.

The Beavers embarked on a hard push to begin the second half, slicing the Pioneer lead to 51-47 with 13:43 left in the game, but Napier splashed home another 3-pointer to rebuild his team's cushion. Napier and Pashley continued to provide the Pioneers with timely scores to reseize momentum.

A jumper from Hunter Penn followed by a three-point play by Matthew Teague on consecutive possessions grew Transylvania's lead to 66-53 with 7:23 left in regulation to set up the Pioneers for the home stretch.

The Pioneers held Blackburn to a dreary 15 percent figure from downtown in the second half and 24 percent for the night to limit the Beavers' offensive attack.

Napier finished with a game-high 18 points while Penn was the other double-digit contributor for the Pioneers with 10 points, adding eight rebounds and two blocks in the performance.

The Pioneers held a 16-7 advantage over Blackburn in points off turnovers in the precision performance on the road. Transylvania was superior on the boards, outrebounding Blackburn 43 to 31.

Transylvania returns home for the 2021 Don Lane Classic on Tuesday, December 21 at the Beck Center. The Pioneers will host Illinois College at 6:00 p.m. for the annual holiday showdown.

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