Box Score

BLUFFTON, Ohio – Transylvania rebounded from a sluggish first half Saturday and blizted Bluffton over the final 20 minutes, taking a 72-61 decision in men's Heartland Conference basketball action.
 
The Pioneers are 5-3, 3-1 in HCAC play, while the Beavers are 2-6, 0-4 in conference play.
 
Barrett Meyer entered the game with 999 career points. He scored 15 points, 13 in the second half, to become the 44th player in the history of the men's basketball program to reach 1,000 points for his career. Brandon Rash reached that milestone earlier this season.
 
Bluffton broke away from a 4-4 tie with a 23-10 run to take a 27-14 edge at the 4:08 mark. But the Pioneers answered with an 8-0 run, part of an 11-2 spurt that ended the half, pulling the visitors within four, 29-25, at intermission.
 
Rash led Transy with 11 first-half points and Ethan Spurlin and Tate Cox notched six apiece. Meyer had a bucket to eclipse the 1,000-point mark.
 
Bluffton connected on 48 percent of its first-half shots, compared to 33 percent for Transy.  Dustin Kinn's eight points paced the Beavers.
 
But it was all Transylvania in the second half as the Pioneers build a lead of as many as 19 points, 68-39, on a Meyer three with 5:32 to play. That play highlighted a 33-14 run, 44-16 when the first-half rally is included. Transy exceeded its first-half point total when Parker Stansberry canned a three just over eight minutes into the period. That made it 51-40.
 
Rash finished with 21 points and six rebounds to go with six assists. Spurlin added 14 points while Stansberry, who was scoreless in the first half, finished with 11. Dunn was the only Beaver in double figures with 11 points.
 
Transy was nine of 18 from three-point range and finished the game shooting over 56 percent from the field. Meyer, Stansberry, and Tate Cox combined to hit eight of 11 treys. Bluffton shot 50 percent overall, but made just five of 18 threes. Cox had six points and four assists.
 
Transy is back in action on Tuesday and Wednesday, hosting the annual Don Lane Classic at the Beck Center. The Pioneers play the event's first game on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., meeting No. 12 Wooster. They play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday against No. 7 Franklin & Marshall. The other team in the Classic is Mt. St. Joseph, which plays Franklin & Marshall at 7:30 on Tuesday and Wooster at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.