N. MANCHESTER, IN – The Manchester College men’s basketball team pulled away from Hanover College on Sunday afternoon, 79-69, to claim the school’s first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament title.  It was the black and gold’s first appearance in the finals since 2001.

After trailing by three at the half, the top seed Spartans outscored the Panthers 56-43 in the second half to pull out the ten point win in front of a packed house at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.  With the win, Manchester earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament set to begin next week.

Manchester (21-6) and Hanover (19-7) each shot the ball well from the field, posting shooting percentages north of 50%.  The Spartans connected on seven three point attempts and converted 24 of their 29 free throw attempts.

Leading the way for MC was senior guard Mitch Schaefer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and junior center Jason Spindler (Harlan, Ind./Woodlan).  Schaefer led the scoring attack with 19 points and five three-pointers, while Spindler chipped in 18 points and four boards on 8 of 11 shooting.  Spindler was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 17.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Spartans’ two wins.

Schaefer earned a spot on the all-tournament team after averaging 16.0 points per game during the tournament for the black and gold.

Hanover was represented on the all-tournament team by junior Mike Case (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport) and  senior Mitchell Meyer (New Albany, Ind./H.S.).  Case averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games for the Panthers, while Meyer averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 boards in the tournament.

Anderson’s Andrew Jones (Noblesville, Ind./H.S.) and Transylvania’s Tate Cox (Hindman, Ky./Knott Co. Central) earned the final two spots on the all-tournament squad.

Manchester will await its first round opponent in the NCAA Division III Tournament, while Hanover waits to see if they will receive an at-large bid into the dance when the bracket is released. The announcement of the Division III men’s basketball field will be presented via webcast on www.ncaa.com beginning at 1 PM Monday.

 

HCAC Men's Basketball Tournament Results

at Manchester College

Friday, Feb. 25
Game 1 - #5 Rose-Hulman vs. #4 Transylvania
Transylvania, 54-49
Game 2 - #6 Bluffton vs. #3 Anderson
Anderson, 75-60

Saturday, Feb. 26
Game 3 - #2 Hanover vs. #3 Anderson
Hanover, 62-50
Game 4 - #1 Manchester vs. #4 Transylvania
Manchester, 68-65

Sunday, Feb. 27
Championship - Hanover vs. Manchester
Manchester, 79-69