NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - Manchester men's basketball dropped a 77-76 decision in overtime to the visiting Pioneers of Transylvania University on Saturday, December 9.

The Spartans fought to a 10-point lead with 8:22 on the clock in the opening half of Saturday's matchup. The Black and Gold took a 14-point lead at halftime behind a 51.43 shooting percentage and seven made three-point shots. 

In the second half, the Pioneers battled back to tie the score at 48 points apiece with 14:38 on the clock. After a hard-fought 14 minutes that saw four lead changes, Transylvania would drain two free-throws to tie the score at 68 with less than 30 seconds left to play in regulation. After a miss by Manchester, Transylvania would have four seconds to win the game, but on the final possession of action, Manchester's defense stopped the Pioneers from getting a shot up before time ran out and the game would go into overtime.

Transylvania extended their lead to five points with 1:28 left to play in overtime. The Spartans would score six unanswered points to take the one point lead with 13 seconds left on the clock. The Pioneers would retake the lead and secure the one-point victory to improve to 5-2, 3-0 HCAC.

Ty Lynas (Crawfordsville, Ind., Crawfordsville) and Zach Sawyer (Columbus, Ohio, Bishop Watterson) lead the Spartan offense on Saturday. Lynas finished the game with 27 points, shooting 5-9 from beyond the three point arc, and had team-high five assists. Sawyer scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Bryant Smith (West Lafayette, Ind., Harrison) also scored in double digits on Saturday afternoon with 11 points. 

Manchester fell to 4-3 on the season and 2-1 in the HCAC. The Spartans will host Berea College for a non-conference matchup on Saturday, December 9. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.