Transylvania is Headed to NCAA D3 Tournament After Winning HCAC Title

Transylvania improved its overall record to 19-8 and will enter the NCAA Tournament having won 12 of its last 13 games.

Michael Jefferson rose to the occasion in his second consecutive conference championship game appearance, scoring a team-high 16 points to go with 12 assists, a career-high eight steals, and a game-high seven assists on 6 for 12 shooting from the floor. Jefferson was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for his play over the weekend.

Lucas Gentry joined Jefferson upon the HCAC All-Tournament Team following a double-double of 15 points, 14 rebounds, along with one assist and a steal.

It was a total team effort for the Pioneers, who overcame 28.6 percent shooting from the field to hold off the Engineers in an afternoon that featured points at a premium.

Luke Schroeder connected on two free throws to hand the Pioneers their largest lead of the afternoon at 10-4 with 13:35 to go in the first half. McGee answered back on a personal 7-0 run for the Engineers as part of his 21-point day to hand the Engineers a one-point lead. The lead changed hands six times over the final six minutes of the first half as Rose-Hulman carried a 28-26 lead into halftime.

Zach Larimore hit two free throws with 11:21 left in the second half to hand the Pioneers a 37-32 advantage before Rose-Hulman scored on its next three possessions to draw within a point at 41-40. The Pioneers arrived at a lengthy scoring impasse from the 10:04 to the 5:41 mark of the second half, but the Engineers struggled as well, only stretching their lead to 42-41 during that timeframe.

Spencer McKinney hit two free throws to put the Pioneers ahead at 43-42 ending another Pioneer drought and Gentry sent in his final 3-pointer of the game with 3:53 left in regulation for a 46-42 Pioneer advantage.

The Pioneers hit another scoring rut over the next two minutes while the Engineers scored two field goals to tie up the championship game at 46-46 with 2:09 remaining.

As the shot clock wound down for the Pioneers on their ensuing possession, Jefferson drove hard to the rack and was fouled, hitting one of two free throws to retake the lead at 47-46 with 1:39 left. McGee gave the lead back to the Engineers on the next possession with a driving runner, spotting the Engineers a one-point lead.

Trailing 48-47, Jefferson drove the baseline and found a cutting Larimore, who took one power dribble and dropped in a short-range lefty floater for a 49-48 Transy lead with 1:20 to go in the contest. With surgical defense employed by both teams the rest of the way, it would prove to be the game-winning shot.

The Engineers missed a go-ahead three-pointer from the right corner but secured an offensive rebound with under a minute left, but Jefferson committed his career-best eighth theft of the afternoon to come away with the ball. Whittling the shot clock into single digits, Jefferson drove and dished to Gentry, who missed a wide-open three-pointer to solidify the Pioneer lead.

The ball in hand with 20 seconds left and trailing by one point, McGee sought an opening but was denied, electing for a Rose-Hulman timeout with seven seconds to go.

Following the inbound, McGee went to work on the right wing versus Jefferson in pursuit of a game-winner and performed a crossover to gain airspace. McKinney joined in on the pressure late, hounding McGee into a difficult fadeaway with two seconds left that fell short, and the ball was grappled for on the deck by multiple players as the Pioneer celebration ensued.

Transylvania outscored Rose-Hulman in the second half, 23 to 20; the Pioneers shot 7 for 21 (33 percent) from the floor in the second half while holding Rose-Hulman to 9 for 25 (36 percent) field-goal shooting and a 2 for 12 mark from deep. The Pioneers hit 6 of 8 free throws in the second half while the Engineers missed all four of their charity tosses in the final 20.

Larimore gave the Pioneers seven points and three rebounds off the bench.

Eight years after falling to Rose-Hulman in the 2012 HCAC Championship game, 76-73 in overtime, the Pioneers were the ones who squeezed out a one-possession game to return to the NCAA Tournament, clinching their first berth via automatic conference bid since 2009.

Transylvania will make its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2006 season.

The Pioneers will open up the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 6 in a location and versus an opponent to be determined. Transylvania will find out its NCAA Tournament bracket assignment tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m. during the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament selection show, aired live on NCAA.com.