LEXINGTON
, KY - The Transylvania University men's basketball team topped Franklin College
on Saturday evening, 76-72, to claim the school's third Heartland Collegiate
Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament title. It was Transy's third
conference tournament championship in the past four seasons.
After trailing by six at the half, the top seeded Pioneers pulled out an
impressive four point win at home against the Grizzlies to secure the
championship. Transylvania , with the win, earns the conference's automatic bid
to the NCAA Division III Tournament set to begin on Thursday.
Transylvania (21-5) was red hot from the field, connecting on 26 of 50 field
goal attempts for a 52.0% clip. The Pioneers also hit eight three-point attempts
on the evening and connected on 16 of their 20 attempts from the free throw
line. Leading the way for TU was senior guard
Aaron
Cash (5'11''-G) of Transylvania University (Brodhead, Ky./Rockcastle Co.)
and junior forward
Blake
McCowan (6'5''-F) (W. Liberty, Ky./Morgan Co.) . Cash led the scoring attack
with 20 points and four rebounds, while McCowan chipped in 16 points on 6-of-7
shooting. McCowan was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging
17.5 points in the Pioneers' two wins.
Joining McCowan on the all-tournament team was senior guard
Aaron
Cash and
Matthew Parton (5'10''-G) (Knoxville, Tenn./Knox. Catholic) . Parton
averaged 16.0 points per game during the tournament for Transylvania .
Franklin was represented on the all-tournament team by senior
Dustin Marshall (6'0''-G) (Lexington , Ind. /Scottsburg) and freshman center
Will
Conoley (6'6''-C) (Franklin , Ind. /H.S.). Marshall averaged 14.5 points in
two games for FC while Conoley scored 17 and 14 points during the Grizzlies' two
tournament games.
Defiance 's
Anthony Pettaway (6'8''-C) (Toledo , Ohio /Bowsher) earned the final spot on
the all-tournament team, averaging a double-double with 23.0 points and 10.0
rebounds per game for the Jackets.
Franklin finishes the season 17-10 while Transylvania will await its first round
opponent in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Courtesy of heartlandconf
Tournament Final: Transylvania - Franklin 76-72 Tournament Semifinals: Transylvania - Anderson 76-69
Franklin - Defiance 73-67
LEXINGTON
, KY - The Transylvania University men's basketball team topped Franklin College
on Saturday evening, 76-72, to claim the school's third Heartland Collegiate
Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament title. It was Transy's third
conference tournament championship in the past four seasons. 
