Transylvania University jumped out to a 25-11 lead to start the game and sealed a 91-75 victory against the Anderson University men's basketball team during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Lexington, Ky.
In the last three road games, the Ravens (8-9, 5-5) fell behind by a double-digit margin to start the game. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (8-9, 5-5) took a 26-10 lead in the first 10 minutes, 21 seconds. Bluffton University (8-9, 4-6) opened up with a 25-15 lead in the first 12:55. Transylvania (10-7, 6-4) then started with a 25-11 advantage in the first 8:41 on Saturday.
"In our last three road games, we have simply not taken the court with the focus and intensity needed to compete," Coach Owen Handy said. "We've taken bad shots, made simple defensive errors, and not rebounded the ball. By the time we get our act together and compete, we've dug a hole that is really difficult to overcome. If I could put my finger on the reason why, we'd be able to work to solve the problem. But for whatever reason, I have not been able to get our team where we need to be mentally when the game starts. It's disappointing, because we've competed well for 30 minutes in these games. But we haven't had the discipline to put a full game together."
Transylvania converted 34-of-64 (53.1 percent) shots from the field and 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) attempts from 3-point range. Anderson hit 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) attempts from the field and 5-of-20 (25 percent) shots from behind the arc.
The Ravens turned the ball over 13 times while the Pioneers committed just six turnovers. Transylvania outscored Anderson 20-11 off turnovers.
Anderson drained 22-of-27 (81.5 percent) shots from the free-throw line while Transylvania made 12-of-16 (75 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
The Ravens edged the Pioneers on the boards 33-32.
Malik Laffoon led the Ravens with 20 points and two blocks. Maurice Knight tallied 19 points. Ronny Williams provided 11 points.
Larry Johnson posted a career-high 11 points. The 6-foot-9 senior forward from Carmel pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Jake Gudorf notched six points and five assists. Austin Lyons produced four points. Michael Rogers and Tate Cooper rounded out Anderson's scoring with two points each.
Anderson goes head-to-head with Defiance College (10-7, 5-5) in HCAC action next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Defiance, Ohio. In the last meeting, Anderson rolled to a 90-62 victory at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets hold a 6-3 record at home, but the Ravens look to come right of the gates on Wednesday.
"This is a clear area of growth in maturity needed for our team, and we've got a good challenge on Wednesday at Defiance. They've been playing very well and will be looking to pay us back for our home win against them."
