BOX SCORE
CARLINVILLE, Ill. -- Blackburn College rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final 8:30 to earn a 73-69 men's basketball victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in non-conference action on Saturday night.
Freshman Charlie Aimone led the Rose-Hulman offense with 18 points on four three-pointers. Senior Tyler Duffy scored 15 points with six rebounds and four assists, while senior Jimmy Miller pitched in with 10 points and four rebounds to provide balance for the Fightin' Engineers.
Blackburn also had a balanced scoring attack, led by DeAndre Manuel with 14 points. Jake Maestranzi and Chris Davis scored 13 points each, and Jamie Moore added 10 for the Beavers.
Rose-Hulman built a 34-29 lead at the half, and scored seven straight points to earn a 60-45 advantage with 8:30 left. Senior Dillon Reynolds opened the spurt with a conventional three-point play, Duffy buried a three-pointer, and junior Wade Stallings capped the run with two free throws.
Blackburn responded with a 21-3 spurt over the next six minutes to gain the lead at 66-63. Rose-Hulman narrowed the margin to two points at 68-66 on a layup by Duffy with 1:13 left and 70-68 with 29 seconds remaining on two Duffy free throws.
Senior Matt Loesing brought the margin down to 70-69 with one free throw with 16 seconds left, but Blackburn hit two free throws and forced a turnover to secure the victory.
Rose-Hulman enters the Holiday break at 5-5 overall, while Blackburn improved to 2-8. The Fightin' Engineers host Transylvania University on Jan. 2 at Hulbert Arena.
