Richmond, Ind. – The Transylvania men’s basketball team turned in a strong second-half performance en route to an 84-74 victory over the Earlham College Quakers at the Druley Performance Gymnasium on Thursday night.
The game was originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday night, but severe winter weather in the area forced a one-day postponement resulting in Thursday’s contest.
With the victory, Transylvania’s record improves to 12-8 overall and 9-4 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, moving the Pioneers into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with just five games remaining in the regular season.
Sophomore guard Michael Jefferson led the way for Transylvania by scoring 16 points in 22 minutes of action to go along with eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Also reaching double figures for the Pioneers were sophomore guard Devin Twenty with 16 points and junior guard Spencer McKinney with 10 points.
Transylvania benefited from a balanced attack throughout the night as 10 different Pioneers scored in the victory.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, freshman forward Zachary Larimore scored on a layup to put the Pioneers ahead, 17-12 midway through the first half.
However, Earlham finished the half on an 8-0 run to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.
Led by 12 second-half points from Jefferson, Transylvania came storming back in the latter stages of the game. The Pioneers outscored the Quakers 50-33 in the final half to claim the 84-74 victory.
Transylvania shot 45 percent from the field in the second half, while their defense held Earlham to just 30 percent shooting for the half.
Up next for the Pioneers is a trip to North Manchester, Indiana to face the Manchester University Spartans on Saturday, February 2. Tip-off between the Pioneers and the Spartans is set for 1:00 p.m. at the PERC.
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