BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Bluffton University relied on a late comeback and a 21-point, 15-rebound effort from Thayne Recker to top Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 62-59 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

Rose-Hulman held a 57-54 lead with two minutes left, before Andrew Finley scored six points in eight seconds to give Bluffton a 60-57 edge.  Finley buried a three-pointer from the left wing, stole the inbounds pass and hit another three in front of the Bluffton bench at the 1:46 mark.

Rose-Hulman closed within 60-59 on two free throws by junior Matt Loesing with 26 seconds remaining.  The Fightin' Engineers fouled on the next possession, and Finley hit two free throws to push Bluffton's lead to 62-59 at the 14-second mark.

The Engineers had a final possession following a timeout with 3.5 seconds remaining.  The last chance by Rose-Hulman fell short on a well defended three-pointer at the buzzer from junior Dillon Reynolds.

Recker led the Bluffton offense with 21 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in a full 40 minutes of action.  The junior crossed the 500-rebound mark in his career in the effort.  Joshua Woodrich (11 points) and Finley (10) also reached double figures in scoring for Bluffton.

Junior Jimmy Miller led the Rose-Hulman offense with 16 points and six rebounds.  Junior Tyler Duffy added 15 points and four rebounds on 7-11 from the field. 

Sophomore Collin Wojcik came off the bench for 10 points on 4-6 from the field.  Loesing contributed seven points and five rebounds to the effort.

Bluffton shot 50% from three-point range and outrebounded Rose-Hulman 36-31 in the victory.  The Fightin' Engineers committed just 10 turnovers offensively and forced 15 from the Beavers offense.

Bluffton improved to 12-11 on the season and 8-8 in conference play, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 13-10 and 9-7 in league games.  The Fightin' Engineers still control their own destiny in qualifying for the six-team HCAC Tournament and host Franklin College on Wednesday night.