TERRE HAUTE, IND. - The Rose-Hulman men’s
basketball team earned a dramatic 59-58 Heartland Conference
road victory over Franklin College on Wednesday night.
A conventional three point play by freshman
Daniel Lowers (Ellettsville/Edgewood) gave Rose-Hulman a
57-56 advantage with 50 seconds remaining, before Franklin
regained the lead at 58-57 on a layup by Marty Young.
A pair of free throws by senior Ron George
(Louisville, Ky./Manual) with 17 seconds made the score
59-58 and sealed the victory for the Engineers as Franklin
failed to connect on a shot at the buzzer.
Rose-Hulman placed a pair of players in double
figures in the victory. George finished 6-8 from the floor and
7-11 from the free throw line for 19 points. Senior
Jared Moore (Indianapolis/Perry Meridian) scored a
career-high 18 points on 8-10 from the field.
Senior Phil Sundling (Huntington/North)
pitched in nine points of his own and grabbed a pair of boards,
while freshman Michael Kelly (Fort Myers, Fla.) led the
Engineers with five rebounds in the victory.
The Engineers shot 62.9% from the field in the
victory, their best shooting percentage in a game since a 65.1%
effort against Hanover in 1998.
In the first half, Franklin College led 10-7,
before going on a 15-5 run to lead 25-12 with 10:19 remaining.
The Engineers would close the gap to 25-19 at the 7:42 mark on a
layup by Moore.
The Engineers would pull even closer as a
layup by George capped a 9-1 Rose-Hulman run to make the score
33-31 in favor of the Grizzlies with 2:22 remaining. The
teams would continue to trade baskets for the rest of the half
with Franklin holding a 37-36 lead after the first stanza.
Rose-Hulman took its first lead of the
ballgame with 17:11 remaining on a layup by George giving the
Engineers a 40-39 advantage. Rose-Hulman would lead until
the 7:09 mark when Franklin tied the score at 50-50 on an Andrew
Bowman layup. The Grizzles regained the lead 54-52 on a
pair of free throws with 5:37 left to play.
The Engineers improved to 2-5 on the season
and 1-1 in HCAC play with the win and will return to action on
December 8, when they take on Bluffton University at 3 p.m.
at Hulbert Arena.
