Wabash escaped its first men’s basketball game at Rose-Hulman in 11 seasons with a 68-66 victory over the Fightin’ Engineers Saturday night.
The Little Giants watched a 12-point second half lead dissolve to a two-point lead in the final minute of play. Rose had two chances to tie the game, but a layup by Daniel Lowers and a last-second jumper by Jeff McCartney would not fall in an attempt to send the game to overtime.
Wabash trailed 5-0 before eventually taking an 18-16 lead on back-to-back three-pointers by Andrew Gilman. The Little Giants used a mixture of outside shooting and wide-open layups after passes over the top of the Rose defense to eventually take a two-point halftime lead to the locker room.
Senior Brian Maloney helped the Little Giants to their 34-32 halftime advantage. Maloney provided three assists while setting high screens for two three-point attempts by Gilman and Derek Bailey. Maloney finished with a season-best 11 points along with five rebounds and four assists.
Wabash stretched its lead to 10 points with 14 minutes left in the game with a 12-2 run after the Engineers tied the game with a basket to start the second period. Chase Haltom, who was scoreless in the first half, caught fire in the second. He drilled a three-pointer at the 8:29 mark to put the Little Giants in front 41-53.
Rose rallied to cut the lead to four points before Aaron Brock took over the scoring duties for Wabash. The Little Giants continued to dump the ball over the top of the defense, finding Brock for four of his team-high 12 points. The Engineers refused to go away, answering with a 10-2 run of their own to draw within two points on a three-point fast break jumper by McCartney.
Wes Smith hit two free throws at the other end of the floor to extend the lead to four points before Lorenzo Rice connected on the third consecutive trey for Rose for a 67-66 Wabash advantage with 39 seconds left. Haltom hit one of two free throws to set up the final series of plays.
Lowers got free on the right block and put up a shot that trickled off the right edge of the hoop with four seconds left. Gilman grabbed the rebound, but McCartney knocked the ball away, throwing up the final shot of the game. The attempt slammed off the right side of the rim once again, giving Wabash the victory.
The Little Giants shot 19-of-45 from the field for 42 percent, while Rose was 24-of-54 for 44 percent. Wabash hit just eight baskets in the final period, but was 15-of-20 from the free throw line after pounding the basket inside repeatedly. Rose was 5-of-9 from behind the arc.
Brock grabbed 10 rebounds in addition to his 12 points to record his third double-double of the season. Wabash won the battle of the boards 31-29 while committing one less turnover than Rose (14-15).
Wabash moves to 4-4 for the season, while Rose falls to 5-6 with the loss. The Little Giants return to action Saturday, December 30 at Franklin for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.