BOX SCORE
RICHMOND, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied
on a strong defensive effort and a balanced scoring attack to top
Earlham College 73-43 in men's basketball action on Tuesday
night.
Rose-Hulman improved to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in Heartland
Collegiate Athletic Conference play with the victory.
Sophomore Julian Strickland
(Indianapolis/Pike) led the Fightin' Engineer offensive
attack with 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior
Austin Weatherford (Cicero/Hamilton Heights) also
reached double figures with 10 points.
Other key contributors included senior Blake Knotts
(Louisville, Ky./Christian) with nine points on a trio of
three-pointers, and junior Brenton Balsbaugh (Greenville,
Ohio/Arcanum) with eight points and eight rebounds.
Juniors Jon Gerken (Defiance, Ohio/Tinora)
and Nate Gissentanner (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale
County) also provided depth with seven points.
Rose-Hulman shot 46% from the field and hit 15-22 free throw
attempts in the offensive effort.
Defensively, Rose-Hulman lived up to its No. 1 ranking in the
HCAC in defense by holding Earlham to 29% from the field and 25%
from three-point range. Colton Bragg led the Quakers with 11
points.
The Engineers set an early tone with a 9-0 lead by forcing five straight Earlham turnovers in the first five possessions. Four different Engineers scored in the opening run.
Rose-Hulman extended its halftime lead to 34-19 by holding Earlham to just two points in the last 6:32 of the first half. Strickland buried back-to-back jumpers and Balsbaugh capped the first half scoring with a free throw.
In the second half, Rose-Hulman quickly built a 20-point lead at 42-22 on scores by sophomore James Pillischafske (Louisville, Ky./Male) and Balsbaugh at the 16:53 mark. Earlham trimmed the lead to 18 points once, but could not move closer down the stretch.
The Engineers set an early tone with a 9-0 lead by forcing five straight Earlham turnovers in the first five possessions. Four different Engineers scored in the opening run.
Rose-Hulman extended its halftime lead to 34-19 by holding Earlham to just two points in the last 6:32 of the first half. Strickland buried back-to-back jumpers and Balsbaugh capped the first half scoring with a free throw.
In the second half, Rose-Hulman quickly built a 20-point lead at 42-22 on scores by sophomore James Pillischafske (Louisville, Ky./Male) and Balsbaugh at the 16:53 mark. Earlham trimmed the lead to 18 points once, but could not move closer down the stretch.
Rose-Hulman stands 10-2 overall, while Earlham dropped to
0-12. The Engineers host Mount St. Joseph in another league
matchup on Saturday at 3 p.m.