NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. -- Manchester University hit nine three-pointers in the second half to capture an 85-68 men's basketball victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Saturday.
Chase Casteel led Manchester with 24 points on eight three-point shots. Tyler Alexander scored 17 points, Tyler Billups added 13, and Erik Bell also reached double figures with 12 points for the Spartans.
Freshman Ryuji Aoki led the Rose-Hulman offense with 20 points. Aoki finished 7-11 from the field and 4-5 from three-point range in his career-best scoring performance.
Junior Stephen Schueth and sophomore Charlie Aimone added nine points each for Rose-Hulman. Aimone paced the Fightin' Engineers with eight rebounds. Freshman John Czarnecki, senior Wade Stallings and senior Collin Wojcik pitched in eight points each. Stallings tallied a season-high offensively with his eight points and three assists.
Rose-Hulman built a 36-33 lead at the break behind 14 points on 5-7 from the field and 4-4 from three-point range by Aoki. In the second half, Eli Combs tied the score for the Engineers at 41-41 on a free throw at the 16:39 mark.
Manchester answered with a 12-3 spurt to gain a 53-44 lead with 12:08 left on a three-pointer by Casteel. Another Aoki layup brought Rose-Hulman within seven points at 53-46, but the Spartans pushed the lead to double figures for good at 60-50 on a Tyler Billups layup with 9:38 left.
Rose-Hulman stands 5-8 overall and 3-3 in league play, while Manchester improved to 2-4 in conference games and 3-9 overall. The Fightin' Engineers return to action at Anderson University on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
