TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology men's basketball team will kick off the 2018-19 season on Saturday November 17 against LaGrange in the opening game of the Rhodes College Tip-Off Tournament. Rose-Hulman will play a second game against either Rhodes or Louisiana College on Sunday November 18. The Sunday tip times are 2 p.m. CT for the championship game at noon CT for the third-place game.
SATURDAY COVERAGE: LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
NOTE: LIVE VIDEO is PAY-PER-VIEW by Rhodes College at a charge of $8.
MEDIA GAME NOTES
Rose-Hulman (0-0) News & Notes:
- Rose-Hulman has been picked as the HCAC preseason favorite in a poll of league coaches released earlier this month.
- Rose-Hulman returns four starters from a team that won a share of the 2017-18 HCAC regular season championship and captured hosting rights for last season's conference tournament.
- Craig McGee leads the returning starters after pacing Rose-Hulman in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals. The first-team all-conference selection averaged 14.1 points per game and was named both the HCAC and D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Freshman of the Year.
- Charlie Aimone and John Czarnecki are two returning starters that also averaged double figures in scoring. Aimone is a two-time second-team all-HCAC honoree with 970 career points who averaged 12.4 points per game last season. Czarnecki was chosen to the all-HCAC Tournament Team in 2018 and shot 61% from the field while averaging 10.4 points per game.
- Nick McGrail is the team's fourth returning starter after averaging 6.3 points per game. Returnees also include double-figure scorers Luke Callahan (10.6 ppg) and Ryuji Aoki (10.0 ppg).
Saturday's Opponent: LaGrange Panthers
- LaGrange finished 13-13 overall and 8-8 in the USA South Conference last season.
- The Panthers return two double-figure scorers from last season, Travis Thompson (12.9 ppg) and Jamison McCray (11.6 ppg).
Saturday's Opponent: Rhodes or Louisiana College
- Rhodes stands 2-0 on the season, with a 95-90 win over University of the Ozarks and a 97-60 win over Austin College. The Lynx were 13-13 last season and 7-7 in the Southern Athletic Association.
- Rhodes has four players averaging double figures, led by Preston Giroux at 15.5 points per game.
- Louisiana College was 6-17 last year and 4-14 in the American Southwest Conference. The Wildcats had a narrow 86-84 loss to Birmingham Southern on Nov. 12 to open this season.
- Devon Washington led Louisiana College with 21 points in the Birmingham Southern.
