The Pioneers (6-2) missed their first nine threes as well as their last seven. In between, Transy was 12 of 18 from long range to bury Greenville. The Panthers are now 1-8 on the year.
Senior Bryan Howard led three Pioneers in double figures with 18 points, hitting seven of 10 shots, including two of five threes. Stephen Gabbard had a career high 14 points off the bench, hitting five of eight overall and four of seven from long range. Senior Matt Finke missed his only three-point attempt, but added 11 points to move within 22 of 1,000 for his career. Finke also led the team along with Joey Searle with six rebounds.
All 17 Pioneers saw action in the contest and 12 scored. Ten Transy players attempted a three-point basket and five connected. Gabbard's four and Robert Pendleton's three (in eight tries) led the team.
Transy hit 50 percent of its shots from the field (33 of 66) and 12 of 32 from behind the arc while Greenville was 19 of 61 overall for 31 percent and just two of 15 from long range. Transy also had a 42-36 edge on the boards and had 19 assists on 33 baskets. Marc Bain, who scored six points on two threes, led with seven assists.
A.J. Turner led the Panthers with 13 points while Bradley Mutton came off the bench to add 10. Ben Hensold led all rebounders with nine.
Transy led at the half by 17, 41-24, then scored the first nine after intermission, taking a 50-24 advantage on Bryan Howard's field goal and free throw, one of the few traditional three-point plays in the game. The advantage grew steadily in the second half, reaching 39 when Gabbard's back-to-back threes made it 70-31 with nine minutes left. Reserves played the rest of the way.
Transy's 12 made threes fell short of the school record of 19 set in 1993 and its 34 attempts were just eight of the record set in 1998.
Transy travels to Thomas More on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Saints. After a Christmas break, the Pioneer will play in the Tampa Bay Shootout on Dec. 29-30, meeting Maryville (Tenn.) in the opener at 7 p.m. Kalamazoo and host DePauw are the other teams in the event. The consolation game is set for Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. with the championship to follow.