CHICAGO, Ill. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rallied from an 11-point first half deficit to take the lead, before Illinois Tech withstood a potential game tying shot to earn a 69-67 men's basketball home victory on Thursday night in Chicago.

Illinois Tech held a 66-62 lead with 1:45 remaining after a jumper by Anthony Mosley.  Rose-Hulman senior Collin Wojcik answered with a three-pointer to bring the Fightin' Engineers within 66-65 at the 1:29 mark.  Malik Howze made one free throw to push the Scarlet Hawk lead to 67-65.

Sophomore Charlie Aimone knotted the score at 67-67 with a basket for Rose-Hulman with 1:00 remaining.  Howze answered with a jumper at the 34-second mark to give Illinois Tech the lead at 69-67.

After misses on both sides, Rose-Hulman had a chance to tie on the final possession of the game.  Freshman Ryuji Aoki, who scored a career-high 17 points off the bench, narrowly rimmed out an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer that would have put the game into overtime as Illinois Tech improved to 7-3 on the season.

Wojcik led the Rose-Hulman offense with a season-high 22 points and eight rebounds.  Aoki added 17 points as the Fightin' Engineer bench scored 40 points on the evening.

Other key Rose-Hulman contributors included Stephen Schueth with nine points and six rebounds; Aimone with eight points and five rebounds; and the duo of Kyle Steckel and John Czarnecki with five points each.

Illinois Tech was led by Howze with 25 points and Mosley with 23 points.  The Scarlet Hawks hit 20-31 from the free throw line and held the Fightin' Engineers to 40% from the field in the contest.

Rose-Hulman stands 4-5 on the season and returns to action at the Baldwin Wallace Holiday Tournament next week.  The Fightin' Engineers face Medaille at 8 p.m. on Dec. 29, then square off with either Adrian or Baldwin Wallace on Dec. 30 in Ohio.