UMHB men’s basketball struggles offensively in road loss to Transylvania, Faces Albion on Sunday

File photo by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru/russellmarwitz.com

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — UMHB shot just 30.7 percent from the field, a season-low. The Crusaders were a mere 5-of-19 from beyond the arc. And they put up only 29 points in the second half of a 70-63 loss to Transylvania in the opener of the Don Lane Classic on Saturday afternoon. Ultimately, head coach Clif Carroll said postgame, much of it went back to a lack of adjustment from his team to both the style of play and amount of physicality being allowed by the officials around the rim.

“They were letting us be very physical contesting shots at the rim,” Carroll noted postgame. “And my guys didn’t adjust to it. It’s frustrating. [My guys] kept putting their head down and running right into their big guys, and [their big guys] were doing a good job in getting their hands high.”

It led to a subpar offensive effort from The Cru (8-3), who have dropped consecutive games for the first time this season. UMHB trailed 35-34 at halftime and shot just 20.5 percent over the final 20 minutes, outscored 35-29 in that stretch. 

“When you go on the road, you get different styles of officiating,” Carroll added. “You come down here, those things aren’t fouls. We got frustrated and didn’t adjust. We have to do better. I’ve got to do better as a coach, the guys have to be better as players, and we have to figure out how to not get frustrated at some of that stuff.” 

Traveling out of region is nothing new for this year’s squad, who played Whitman and Cal Lutheran last week in Walla Walla, Washington, and opened the season at the Trine University Classic in Angola, Indiana. But even with that situational familiarity, the challenge of adapting to the specific style of play and the officiating in Kentucky was a real factor on Saturday afternoon. 

UMHB scored just three times in the paint over the final 10 minutes of the second half, struggling to drive past Transy’s defenders, whose intensity was evident from the beginning. And on multiple occasions, contact on an attempted short-range shot went as a no-call, causing some of that frustration Carroll referenced. 

But UMHB is a team whose goals include a run in March. As Carroll pointed out postgame, if NCAA Tournament success is something The Cru is after, the ability to win in unfamiliar environments with a different officiating style is a necessity. 

“It is what it is,” Carroll said. “You come on the road, get on an airplane, and come out to officials you’ve never had before. Sometimes you have to adjust a little better. That’s something you have to do in NCAA tournaments. If we think we’re a team that is going to be at that level, we need to be able to adjust to officiating.” 

But it wasn’t just the style of play and officiating that gave UMHB trouble. The Pioneers made clear that their four-game win streak was no fluke, led by a 24-point effort from senior guard Colby Napier. Napier was responsible for seven of Transy’s nine 3-pointers, hitting two of those in the game’s first three minutes. That pushed the Pioneers out to an early 6-2 lead, and they never trailed for the remainder of the opening half.

UMHB tied the score four times in the first 20 minutes, but in all four instances, Transy answered with points of its own on the very next possession. When Ryan Pondant’s layup tied it at 8-8 with 14:34 left until halftime, Napier hit a 3 on the other end for an 11-8 advantage. Eli Beard connected on a 3 of his own for UMHB 16 seconds later, only for Transy’s Brandon Rowe to counter, cutting through the lane as Hunter Barr delivered a perfect bounce pass in the paint, setting up Rowe’s layup. 

That was the way it went in the first half, UMHB almost always within striking distance, yet never in the lead. The only exception was Transy’s 9-2 run with just under 10 minutes left, as the Pioneers gained separation in the form of a 28-19 lead. But The Cru reeled them back, answering in a 7-1 spurt that cut the deficit to three. 

The second half was similar in terms of the pattern, with neither side pulling away and the lead changing hands three times in the first five minutes. The Cru gained its largest lead with 12:49 left, as Zachary Engels converted on a free throw for a 47-42 margin, and at that point, it was Transy who played catch-up, just as The Cru did through the first half. The Pioneers eventually reclaimed the lead with 9:10 to go, thanks to yet another key 3-pointer from Napier. 

While UMHB took it back on Jerry Day’s jumper with 6:32 remaining, it was short-lived. Hunter Penn put Transy in front on the next possession, and after Ryan Pondant tied the score for the last time at 56-56, Rowe pushed the Pioneers back in front on a pair of free throws. 

Transy never surrendered its advantage down the stretch, though the lead remained within four points until the clock ticked under a minute. The Pioneers closed on an 8-2 run, holding UMHB to just two points in the final two minutes. 

“Credit to Transy,” Carroll commented. “They played really hard and contested at the rim.” 

Amongst the positive stats for The Cru, 22 second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds stood out. It was the second-highest offensive rebounding total in a game for UMHB this season, the majority of which came in the second half after a significant rebounding deficit over the first 20 minutes. The Cru had multiple possessions where they scored on the second or third chance, and in the case of Donta Coady’s tip-in with 13:38 to go, a fifth chance. That sequence was particularly impressive, as Coady, Maurice Pinnock, and Connor Zamiara repeatedly tipped the ball back towards the rim above the Transy defenders until it fell through, giving UMHB a 46-42 lead. 

But it wasn’t something seen throughout the game’s entirety. While UMHB rebounded relatively well through the second half, Carroll made it clear that the expectation is a better performance on the boards across both halves, not just in spurts. 

“We got after them a little bit at halftime, and in the second half, we turned it on a little bit,” he said. “But we got dominated in the first half in rebounding. When we get dominated on the boards, we don’t win. We have to do better and be more intentional about trying to rebound.” 

UMHB now looks ahead to a matchup against Albion on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) to close its time in Kentucky. The Brits are 4-4 overall, and dropped their opening game at the Don Lane Classic to Wabash, 73-51. It will be the first meeting between the two programs. 

“We’re going to have to play better,” Carroll said. “We have to find some more energy. I think we had some guys banged up and just didn’t play to our level. I probably need to get a little deeper in the bench tomorrow. We’re a deep team, and I need to use that. You may see some fresh faces running around tomorrow.”