Franklin, Ind. – A cold shooting night doomed the Transylvania men’s basketball team as the Pioneers fell to the Franklin College Grizzlies by the final score of 101-81 at the Spurlock Center on Wednesday night.
The loss snaps a season-best five-game win streak for the Pioneers, dropping their record to 15-9 overall and 12-5 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with just one game remaining in the regular season.
Sophomore forwards Lucas Gentry and Spencer Hemmerich led the Pioneers with 13 points each in the loss. The performance was a career-high for Hemmerich, who played 15 minutes off the bench for Transylvania.
Also scoring a career-high was freshman guard Aiden Pashley, who tallied nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in just 13 minutes of action off the Transylvania bench.
The game got off to a slow start as both teams grappled for early control. Transylvania junior guard Gabe Schmittknocked down a mid-range jump shot to cut the Grizzlies’ lead to 9-8 at the 16:24 mark of the first half.
However, Franklin went on to outscore the Pioneers 42-14 over the final 16 minutes of the first half, allowing the Grizzlies to take a 51-22 lead into the halftime break.
For the half, Transylvania shot a dismal 24 percent from the field in comparison to the Grizzlies, who shot 57 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point range.
In the second half, the Pioneers attempted to make a heroic comeback by implementing a stiffening full-court press defense. However, the Grizzlies were undeterred and held on for the 101-81 victory.
The Pioneers will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, February 16 as they travel to Anderson, Indiana to faceoff with the Anderson University Ravens. The game is set for a 4:00 p.m. start at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
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