ANDERSON, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology placed five players in double figures, but Anderson University withstood a late charge to earn an 88-83 men's basketball victory on Wednesday night at Anderson.
Nathaniel Acree led four Anderson players in double figures as the Ravens improved to 6-1 on the season. Cole Hartman added 18 points, Trevor Lucas scored 14 and Mike Peters tallied 12 as the Ravens improved to 6-1 in conference play.
Rose-Hulman featured a balanced attack led by three players with 13 points each. Charlie Aimone finished 4-10 from the field and 4-4 on the foul line, Stephen Schueth was 3-7 with a trio of three-pointers and four free throws, and Wade Stallings added a season-high on 5-12 from the field with three treys.
Anderson shot 59% from the field to counter a hot three-point performance by the Fightin' Engineers. Rose-Hulman hit 10-19 three-pointers, outrebounded Anderson 35-31 and committed just 11 turnovers in a strong offensive performance.
Anderson jumped out to a 15-8 lead, before two three-pointers by Stallings brought Rose-Hulman back within 18-17 at the 13:37 mark. Rose-Hulman took the lead at 29-26 on a three-pointer by Wojcik and a score by Aoki with 9:22 left in the first half.
Rose-Hulman pushed its lead to four points at 39-35 on two Wojcik free throws, and the Fightin' Engineers led 41-38 at the break. Stallings led the offense with 11 first half points on 3-3 from three-point range.
In the second half, the score remained tight at 49-47 in favor of Rose-Hulman on a dunk by JT Whitaker. Anderson responded with a 14-3 run to gain a 61-52 lead with 13:16 left. Rose-Hulman trimmed the margin to five points at 70-65 on two free throws by Aimone at the 6:15 mark.
A four-point play by Schueth with 1:07 left brought Rose-Hulman within 82-79 and back into contention. Peters responded with a layup, and Lucas secured the win for the Ravens with four free throws in the final 18 seconds.
Anderson improved to 9-5 overall and 6-1 in league play, while Rose-Hulman stands 5-9 and 3-4 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers return home on Saturday to face Defiance College at 3 p.m.
