Hanover, Ind. - Manchester Men's Basketball traded punches with Hanover on Saturday afternoon, but a scorching first half from the Panthers proved too much in a 96-83 HCAC setback at John Collier Arena.

Manchester was efficient offensively—shooting 32-for-62 overall and 12-for-23 from three—but Hanover's early barrage from deep created a gap the Spartans spent the rest of the day trying to erase. The Panthers buried 12 triples in the opening 20 minutes and took a 52-39 lead into the break despite Manchester keeping pace with a strong start from the perimeter.

The Spartans continued to answer in the second half, winning the final 20 minutes 44-44 and slicing the deficit to single digits during a push fueled by Ladarius Wallace and Clay McCorkle. Wallace was nearly automatic, scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and knocking down 5-of-7 from three while adding four assists. McCorkle led all Spartans with 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 5-of-6 from deep, and Ty Lynas added 19 points, five rebounds and a steal while getting to the line five times.

Manchester's ball security was a bright spot (just four turnovers), and the Spartans finished with 28 points in the paint while creating 10 second-chance points. But Hanover countered with 16 made threes, a 38-23 rebounding advantage (17 offensive boards), and 25 assists—turning extra possessions into timely momentum-stopping buckets whenever Manchester threatened to close the gap.