By GREG MENGELT

HANOVER — Former New Albany star Isaac Hibbard had season highs of 28 points and 10 assists but it wasn’t enough in Hanover’s 86-81 loss to visiting Transylvania on Wednesday evening.

It’s the Panthers’ first loss at John Collier Arena this season. Hanover (18-4, 14-3 HCAC) had already clinched the conference championship and still has a 4.5 game lead atop the standings with one regular-season game left to play. That’s a 7:30 p.m. start Friday at Mount St. Joseph (10-13, 6-10) in Cincinnati.

In his final home game at Hanover, Hibbard put up 28 points, going 13 for 19 from the field and 1 for 2 from behind the 3-point line, with 10 assists and a couple of rebounds. The Hanover senior played all 40 minutes in the loss.

Junior forward Ty Houston (Union, Ky./Cooper) added 16 points. Noah Williams (Jeffersonville/Christian Academy), also a senior, finished with five points in 16 minutes.

Transylvania (14-8, 9-6 HCAC) shot 70.4 percent (19 of 27) in the first half to build a 44-37 lead at intermission to stop the Panthers’ 3-game winning streak. The Pioneers were led by senior forward Zach Larimore (LaGrange, Ky./Oldham Co.) and freshman forward Hunter Penn (Versailles, Ky./Woodford Co.), who had 21 points apiece.