The Pioneers (21-4, 12-2 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference), who clinched the HCAC regular-season title on Wednesday, have posted their most wins since the 2001-02 squad won 27 games. The Yellow Jackets drop to 9-15, 2-12 with the loss.
"This is one of those games that is sometimes hard to prepare for because we had already clinched the conference," Transy head coach Brian Lane said. "We have a mature bunch of guys and we handled it the way we should. We had an impressive regular season and wanted to earn home-court advantage in the tournament. We were able to do that, but it all starts over on Tuesday night. We have a clean slate and we have to play each game like it's our last game of the season because if we don't come out ready, it could be our last game."
Bain led five Transy players who scored in double figures. Senior guard/forward Bryan Howard, who added 14 points, became the 29th member of the Pioneers' 1,000-point club with a pair of free-throws just 23 seconds into the game. Junior forward Joey Searle chipped in 13 points, while senior Matt Finke and freshman Joey Verax added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Senior guard Ryan Atwell had a team-high six rebounds.
The Pioneers, who shot 46.7 percent (28-of-60), made an impressive 87.5 percent (21-of-24) of their free throws. Defiance was only able to make 34 percent (17-of-50) of its shots from the floor. Forward Anthony Pettaway led the Yellow Jackets with 11 points.
Both teams got off to a slow start with five ties over the game's first eight minutes. Defiance hit back-to-back baskets to go ahead 19-15 with 10:53 remaining in the half. Transy rallied to tie the score at 19, but the Yellow Jackets went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a three-point play by Bryan Post, to go ahead 25-19.
After a pair of free throws by Defiance's Curt Croy put the Yellow Jackets ahead by six, 27-21, the Pioneers went on a 16-0 run over the next 6:25. Transy held Defiance without a field goal for more than eight minutes late in the second half and entered the locker room ahead 40-29.
"We got down early, but we were able to start being assertive and I think that was the key," Lane said. "We switched to a zone and we were able to force 13 turnovers in the first half to get back into the game."
The Pioneers scored the first four points of the second half and continued rolling throughout the final period. Bain hit four three-pointers in a three-minute stretch to extend Transy's lead to 75-44, with 6:41 left in the game. They led by as many as 33 points, 82-49, with 3:05 remaining on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Stephen Gabbard.
Transy's seven seniors, Atwell, Bain, Adam Cole, Finke, Howard, Robert Pendleton and Tyler Smithhart, were honored prior to tip-off.
Transy will host Defiance again in its next outing, a first-round HCAC tournament game at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The conference's top four teams all get first-round home games. If the Pioneers advance on Tuesday, they would host the conference semifinals and finals next Friday and Saturday because they hold the league's top seed.