LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. #1 seed and tournament host Transylvania University Pioneers captured the championship title on Saturday evening at the 2026 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Men’s Basketball Championship, beating No. #2 seed Anderson University.

The Pioneers overcame an early first half deficit to the Ravens, but roared back and shoot their way to the team's first HCAC tournament title since 2020. With the win, Transylvania improves their overall record to 20-8 and have now won an impressive 13 straight games.  With the defeat Anderson ends their 2025-26 campaign with a record of 18-10. 

The Pioneers claim the HCAC Automatic Qualification bid to the 2026 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship, and will learn their tournament destination on Monday, Mar. 2 at 1:00 pm during the selection show to air on www.ncaa.com.
 
The HCAC recognizes an All-Tournament team, with the members of the 2026 HCAC All-Tournament team below.
 
2026 HCAC All-Tournament Team 

MVP – Hunter Barr, Transylvania University
Rob Davidson, Anderson University
Justin Harrington, Franklin College
Drew Marshall, Transylvania University
Joey Schmitz, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Kenney Troutman, Anderson University
 
For more information on HCAC Basketball, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC's home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on Twitter and by liking the "HCAC DIII" Facebook page.