Lexington, KY – Transylvania University found their winning ways again by holding off a hot-handed Earlham Quakers team to win 88-71 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night.
In the Pioneers' earlier matchup with Earlham this season on January 6, all five Transylvania starters scored in double figures as Theobald had his first career double-double the last time with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Tonight, it was senior Parker Stansberry who led the Pioneer offense with 26 points. Stansberry finished 11-for-19 from the field and 1-for-2 from the free throw line in the performance.
Junior Alex Jones, last week's HCAC Player of the Week, had a well-rounded game with 16 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while senior Lowell Gordon added 14 points and freshman Cooper Theobald contributed with 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Earlham was led by senior Taylen Alexander and freshman Alex Topalovic, who each notched 13 points with the help of junior Kamari Hunter who dished out 6 assists for the Quakers. Other key contributors for the visiting team were freshman Chainey Zolman with 11 points and freshman Isaiah Ware with 10 points.
Transylvania built a 33-27 halftime lead despite consistent 3-point accuracy from the Quakers that kept them in the game. Earlham's first 15 points all came on 3-pointers as six different players made good from behind the arc in the first half.
Earlham kept the hot hand, shooting 8-for-16 from deep at one point in the second half. Earlham finished the night 11-for-26 on 3-pointers, shooting 42.3% from downtown. Transy put up their share of three-pointers as well, making 9-21 and shooting 42.9% from outside.
Both teams were strong in the paint as EC scored 24 points down low and TU dropped 30 from inside. Nevertheless, Earlham couldn't keep up as the Pioneers won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Earlham 33 to 19 and scoring 16 points off of second chances.
Turnovers also proved to be a difference maker as Earlham turned it over 8 times in the first half while Transylvania gave it up only twice over that span. Transylvania put up a total of 19 points on the board for the night from turnovers alone.
Personal fouls did not work in the Quakers' favor either as they tallied a total of 18 compared to the Pioneers' 11. Transy converted 13 of 15 shots from the foul line while Earlham made good on 10 of 13 shots.
With the win, Transylvania remains undefeated against Earlham since the Quakers joined the HCAC prior to the 2010-11 season.
The Pioneers are now 7-11 on the season and 6-5 in the conference as they reclaimed a tie for sixth place in the HCAC with Anderson. Transylvania travels to Anderson this Saturday for a chance to move ahead in the standings with a 4:00 p.m. start. Follow all of the action on their official twitter page @TransyHoops.