Lyons Turns in Career-High 22 Points in HCAC Opener

Anderson University men's basketball sophomore Austin Lyons (Anderson, Ind./Lapel) turned in a career-high 22 points during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) opener with Transylvania University at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. Dalton DuBois (Plainfield, Ind./Cascade) also delivered 20 points for his second consecutive game with at least 20 points.
 
Transylvania (4-2, 1-1) fended off Anderson (2-5, 0-1) with an 85-80 victory.
 
Anderson entered the conference season after facing one of the toughest schedules in the nation to start the season.
 
"Coming into [Saturday's] game, we had played the 11th toughest schedule in the country," Coach Owen Handy said. "We have competed really well against exceptional competition. Right now we are coming out on the wrong side of a lot of close games. I have said this a lot, and I am going to keep saying it: 'Whenever we put together 40 minutes we are going to be a handful to deal with.'"
 
Anderson held a 16-13 lead against the Pioneers with 11 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first half. The Ravens then rattled off a 16-2 run to give the Ravens a 32-15 lead with 5:39 remaining. Transylvania trimmed its deficit to 43-34 by halftime.
 
The Pioneers scored the first eight points of the second half to cut Anderson's lead to 43-42 with 17:45 remaining.
 
"We came out of halftime and didn't play very hard for a few minutes, really gave up a lot of momentum there."
 
For a 6:41 stretch in the second half, the game remained within a possession and also included five lead changes and three ties.
 
Anderson led 48-46 with 15:41 left in the second half. Lucas Gentry provided Transylvania's next eight points. Gabe Schmitt then contributed Transylvania's next 16 points to put the Pioneers up 70-64 with 7:03 remaining.
 
"In the second half we lost Schmitt and Gentry a couple of times too many."
 
The Ravens chipped away and trimmed the deficit to 74-72. DuBois made a layup to tie the game at 74-all with 2:06 remaining.
 
On the following possession, Gentry hit a go-ahead jumper for Transylvania. The Pioneers stopped the Ravens on the following possession and pulled away for a victory.
 
"I give a lot of credit to Transylvania. They run a variety of different stuff at both ends of the floor, and they did a nice job of getting us off balance a couple of times during the game."
 
During his 22-point performance, Lyons converted 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) shots from the field and 6-of-8 (75 percent) attempts from 3-point range. The sophomore from Anderson also blocked three shots.
 
DuBois knocked down 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) shots from the field as well as each of his seven free-throw attempts to total 20 points.
 
Maurice Knight (Frankton, Ind./Frankton) tallied 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Malik Laffoon (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North) provided eight points. Michael Rogers (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) scored five points. Tate Cooper (Terre Haute, Ind./North) and Ronny Williams (Anderson, Ind./Liberty Christian) each turned in four points while Jake Gudorf (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) rounded out the Anderson scoring effort with two points.
 
Schmitt, the HCAC leader in 3-point field-goal percentage, dropped 26 points for the Pioneers. He drained 8-of-16 (50 percent) shots from the field and 6-of-8 (75 percent) attempts from behind the arc.
 
Gentry produced 19 points and eight rebounds. Michael Jefferson notched 14 points, six assists and eight rebounds. Luke Schroeder also contributed 11 points.
 
Transylvania sank 30-of-61 (49.2 percent) shots from the field and 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) attempts from downtown. Anderson hit 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) attempts from the floor and 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) shots from the perimeter.
 
The Ravens drained 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Pioneers made 15-of-20 (75 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Transylvania captured a 14-5 advantage in fast-break points.
 
The Pioneers powered to a 42-23 advantage on the boards. Transylvania held a 14-3 advantage on offensive rebounds and outscored Anderson 13-4 on second-chance points.
 
Transylvania committed 16 turnovers while Anderson turned the ball over 11 times. Anderson recorded a 19-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
"We did a nice job of gaining our composure and fighting back in to the game. We are really persistent, and we play hard. Right now it is a matter of consistency. We are not there yet, but we will get there."
 
Anderson squares off with Mount St. Joseph University (3-6, 1-1) in HCAC action next Saturday at 4 p.m. in Cincinnati.