Carmel, Ind. – Transylvania men's basketball senior forward Lucas Gentry has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season, the conference announced on Thursday.

Gentry, a senior from Mt. Vernon, Kentucky (Rockcastle County HS), highlighted a full list of HCAC All-Conference award winners, unveiled by the conference office following Wednesday's conclusion of the HCAC men's basketball season.

Junior forward Zach Larimore (La Grange, Ky. / South Oldham HS) was named to the All-HCAC First Team for the first time in his career, joining Gentry on the first team.

After winning All-HCAC Honorable Mention honors as a junior, Gentry took his game to a new level in his final season with the Pioneers, leading the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game and in rebounding at 7.1 rebounds per game. Gentry ranked third in the conference in both scoring and rebounding.

The senior was a sharpshooter from every quadrant on the court, hitting 47 percent from the field and better than 41 percent from three-point range. Gentry connected on 37 of 90 three-point attempts in the 2020-21 season. The forward ranked sixth in the HCAC in field goal percentage and fourth in three-point field goals per game.

In conference-only games, Gentry averaged 19.7 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 54 percent from the floor and 48 percent from downtown.

Gentry's prolific senior season featured its fair share of monster stat lines and clutch performances. On January 21 at Mount St. Joseph, Gentry capped off a 10-point comeback for Transy with less than a minute to go with a miraculous buzzer beating jumper with 0.9 seconds on the clock to give Transylvania an improbable 63-62 victory at the Lions in the "Miracle at the Mount." Gentry posted 27 points and 10 rebounds in that performance to begin a string of five straight double-doubles.

On February 11 versus Hanover, Gentry scored a career-high 42 points on 16 for 24 shooting and knocked down 7 of 10 three-pointers to lead Transylvania to an 89-84 overtime win.

Gentry led the Pioneers to an 8-9 overall record, an 8-4 record against Division III opponents, and Transylvania's second consecutive HCAC Tournament Championship game appearance.

Larimore earned his first HCAC postseason honors with his selection to the 2021 All-HCAC First Team. Larimore was second on the Pioneers in scoring at 15 points per game and averaged 4.6 rebounds per game. The junior scored in double figures in 13 of 17 games this season and had a season-high 24 points on January 31 at Earlham.

Larimore ranked eighth in the HCAC in scoring this season and was second on the Pioneers in assists, and fourth in rebounding. The forward shot 44 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range this season.

Gentry and Larimore formed a strong frontcourt for the Pioneers which went 6-3 in the HCAC regular season and returned to the HCAC Tournament Championship game for the second straight season.

Gentry is the first Transylvania men's basketball player to earn player of the year honors since Ethan Spurlin in the 2011-2012 season.

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