Hanover College's men's basketball team clinched a share of its fourth consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 71-56 win against Transylvania University (KY) Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Lexington, KY.
The victory, Hanover's 12th straight, raised the Panthers' record to 21-1 overall this season. The squad is 11-0 in the HCAC with three league games remaining.
Transylvania dropped to 13-7 overall and 7-4 in the conference.
Junior forward Ryan Lanning (Brookville, IN) led Hanover with 16 points. Senior guard Thad McCracken (Heltonville, IN) and junior guard Matt Moore (Evansville, IN) added 13 points apiece for the Panthers.
Sophomore forward Nick Feagan led Transylvania with 15 points.
A 9-3 run late in the first half helped Hanover post a 32-25 advantage at the break. McCracken nailed three straight buckets to cap a 16-6 spurt that pushed the Panthers lead to 17 points (48-31) with 13:52 remaining in the game. Transylvania cut the margin to 14 points on three occasions, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
Hanover attempted just 39 field goals and made 22 of the shots (56.4%) in the contest. The Panthers converted 23-of-34 free throws (67.6%), including 20-of-28 in the second period (71.4%).
Transylvania was hampered by poor field-goal shooting throughout the contest. The Pioneers hit just 9-of-32 shots from the floor in the first half (28.1%) and finished the game 19-of-64 from the field (29.7%). Transylvania made only 8-of-35 three-point attempts (22.9%).
Hanover will attempt to win the HCAC title outright, Saturday, Feb. 14, at Defiance College (OH). The tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Defiance, OH.