The Wabash basketball team couldn’t overcome a 20-point first half deficit against Rose-Hulman on Saturday night, eventually losing 79-64 to the Fightin' Engineers in the first game of the Mike Rokicki Community vs. Cancer Classic at DePauw University.
The Little Giants were held to three points off a Matt Storm (Anderson, IN/Lapel) jumper in the first five minutes of the game. Meanwhile Rose-Hulman raced out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back. Wabash trailed by as many as 23 points before cutting it to 19 at the half.
The second half wouldn’t be any better for the Little Giants. Rose-Hulman pushed its lead to 30 with five minutes left in the contest before both teams cleared the benches. The Little Giant reserves outscored Rose 22-5 over the final five minutes to cut the final deficit to 15.
Sophomore center Kyle Coffey (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) (photo left) scored a career-best 12 points to lead the Little Giants in scoring. He also grabbed a career-best and team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Alex Rinks (Indianapolis, IN/Beech Grove) added nine points coming off the bench for Wabash.
Wabash shot 37-percent from the field (23-of-62). The Little Giants hit 13-of-31 free throw attempts (41-percent) and 5-of-14 three pointers (36-percent). The turnover totals were nearly even. Wabash committed 18 turnovers while forcing 17 Rose-Hulman miscues. The Fightin' Engineers outrebounded Wabash 47-41.
The Little Giants fall to 1-3 with the loss. Wabash plays the host DePauw Tigers in the final game of the Classic on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.