With the victory, the Engineers advance to the tournament title game against Aurora University on 3 p.m. Saturday.  The Spartans defeated IU-South Bend 71-63 in the first semifinal contest. 

Senior Brian Bibb (Hoopeston, Ill.) led a balanced Engineer scoring attack with 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.  Junior Phil Sundling (Huntington/North) added career-highs of 11 points, nine rebounds and six steals. 

Junior Ron George (Louisville, Ky./Manual) and senior Jason Bednarko (Athens, Ill.) narrowly missed double figure games with nine points each. 

“It was a hard fought win because both teams are young and still finding themselves.  We both got some opportunities and showed some balanced tonight,” said Rose-Hulman head coach Jim Shaw. 

Phil Sundling added 11 points and nine rebounds with six steals.

Wabash scored the game’s first four points and maintained a three-point lead at 7-4, before Sundling scored on a layup to bring the Engineers to within 7-6.  The lead grew to 10-8, before Bibb knotted the game at 10-10 on a layup at the 8:44 mark. 

Another Bibb score gave Rose-Hulman its first lead at 12-10 with 8:08 left in the half.  The streak continued as the Engineers earned an 18-11 advantage on a score by George with 4:31 left in the half. 

Wabash closed within 18-15 on a quick pair of jump shots, before Shaw called a full timeout at the 3:21 mark.  Rose-Hulman responded with a 10-2 run to close the half and give the Engineers a 28-17 lead at halftime.

Junior Jared Moore (Indianapolis/Perry Meridian) and Bibb buried consecutive three-pointers to open the rally, before George hit a pair of shots to end the first half. 

The lead increased to 13 points at 32-19 on a three-pointer by Bednarko.  The Engineers pushed the advantage to as high as 14 points on two free throws by Moore at the 12:46 mark. 

Wabash closed to within six points twice down the stretch, but a free throw by Sundling in the final 30 seconds pushed the lead to seven points and three possessions to secure the win. 

Rose-Hulman opened with a 1-0 record for the second consecutive year and seeks its first 2-0 start to a season since the 1992-93 campaign in Saturday’s matchup.